Heroes of Hoenn
by xXsapphireheartXx
Summary: Red, Gold, and now me—Steven says it's fate. I have to disagree. It's terrible, terrible, good luck.  Based on RSE
1. Chapter 1: Tyrant Torchic

Summary:_ Red, Gold, and now me—Steven says it's fate. I have to disagree. It's terrible, terrible, good luck. [Based on RSE]_

Warnings: Language

Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me, nor do its characters.

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**Chapter 1: Tyrant Torchic**

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I walked through the woods, moodily kicking at innocent flowers and sticks as I sulked. I stomped on a twig and it gave a dissatisfying _snap_. I groaned to myself, shoving my hands in my pockets to slouch on.

This _sucked_…

First, Mom didn't have to guts to tell me we were moving to Hoenn until two weeks before the fact. Second, we moved to Hoenn! I'd spent my LIFE in Johto; I was a Johto girl, not some Hoenn hick! We moved to what must to be the most boring, out of it town in all of Hoenn—in all the world! It was full of old wrinkly people who undoubtedly dozed on their porches every evening, knit, and were completely clueless technologically wise. The only ones under the age of 60 were my mom, my neighbor, her husband, her son, and I. The neighbor's son was an utter jerk! He had this superior way of looking at you with his sneering crimson eyes that made me bristle, and the condescending manner he'd acted with when he realized I didn't have a single Pokémon…I would have punched him if there hadn't been witnesses!

As much as I hated to admit it, when he'd offered to get me a Pokémon, no matter how patronizing, my heart had leapt with hope—just to crash when he ran off, apologizing for being too busy to. And busy with Pokémon stuff, at that!

Geez! Was I so desperate I'd be willing to head off with _him_, if it meant getting a Pokémon—any Pokémon?

Scowling at the tree, I decided I had to draw the line _somewhere_. I should've drawn it years ago when Mom and Dad wouldn't let me leave on a Pokémon journey when everyone else did. I could've done it! Why the heck hadn't they had faith in me?

I was sixteen now, and they still woudn't let me leave. Talk about overprotective… Even if they did have a point six years ago, I was long, long over that, and absolutely dying to break free of their shackles. It was so embarrassing! I bet every sixteen-year-old in the world has a Pokémon except me!

I was a gym leader's kid, too. Shouldn't that count for _something?_ It seemed like I should get a Pokémon early, not absurdly late…

Pausing in front of a tree, I mentally checked my distance from the town—what was it called? Ack, who cared? I was far enough. I leaned forward, bracing myself against a tree, and growled, something between a snarl and a groan. I stopped when I ran out of breath, throat sore. I was inhaling to repeat myself when someone else screamed first.

I considered not interfering. I didn't want to interrupt some poor Joe's anger fest, but he'd interrupted mine, and he didn't sound frustrated—he sounded scared.

I pushed myself off the tree, heading towards the source—sedately. No way I was running, if he was being mauled—his own fault for heading into tall grass unwarily. Though the same could be said for me, but as I'd demonstrated moments earlier, I had a killer shout to scare it off.

Actually, I wouldn't mind taking it on. It was a ready excuse to claw something—I could pretend it was Bryn or his Pokémon. Or maybe it was him screaming so shrilly? I sped up, jogging towards the scene of the crime. Maybe the beast had already done the dirty work…

Arriving, I saw a stout middle-aged man attempting to hang onto a tree, a tiny black dog Pokémon hanging off his lab coat, snarling something fierce.

_Pfft_. I raised a hand to my mouth to hide my grin. The Pokémon was obviously low-leveled and probably couldn't do much damage. I felt slightly better, though—he didn't have a Pokémon either. He looked to be in his early forties… On the other hand, I suddenly fervently hoped he did. The Law of Irony said since I'd just laughed at him for being forty and not having a Pokémon, I'd end up being forty and Pokémon-less, which I definitely did _not_ want.

Then he spotted me. "Oh, thank goodness! Help, I don't have any Pokémon on me! I left my balls in the bag over there!"

_Yeah,_ I thought, watching him whimper and frantically fail to pull himself higher up the tree, _I can definitely see that._

I ran over to the bag, grinning at the prospect of being able to battle. I ripped open the bag eagerly, taking in papers, papers, a clipboard, and more papers…

"Other pocket!" he shrieked.

"Okay, okay!" I quickly unzipped it and dumped out the contents. Three pokéballs clattered to the ground. I fell to my knees, examining them. Hm, which to choose?

"Hurry!"

I reached for the closest, and then paused, changing my mind and reaching for the middle. Just as I was about to pick it up, I noticed a brown stain on the pokéball. I shook my head decisively and grabbed the furthest, jumping to my feet to whirl towards the dude-in-distress. Dude-in-danger sounded snappier, but he wasn't really in danger. I let out the Pokémon, and stared in disappointment at a fluffy baby chick. He looked up at me with wide eyes.

"Torchic, the Chick Pokémon!" the man exclaimed. "Now help!"

"Hey, attack that…err, well, I don't know what it is, so just attack it! Tackle!"

Torchic's wide sparkly eyes now were filled with confusion.

"He doesn't know Tackle!" shouted the man, squealing as the dog let out a muffled howl.

"What does he know?" I asked. "Ember?" The chick continued to look confused, and scratched idly at the dirt.

"Uh…I can't remember!" the man cried. "Just choose another!"

Impatient, I snatched up the closest pokéball and threw it. A green lizard leapt agilely from it, landing silently, and my mouth fell open. This Pokémon…was the best! Cute and cool, quick and quiet! Just my type!

"Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon! Now please, _help!_" The dog was still howling something awful. I would've spared a frown for it if I hadn't been so intent on Treecko. A name to fit him!

"Awesome!" I yelped. "What do you know? Tackle!"

He looked me over with a lazy yellow eye. Yellow eyes! How cool was that?

He gave a snort and turned away from me.

"Attack!" I shouted.

Treecko burst into motion, leaping up—so high for something his height!—and slamming his strong tail on Torchic, who screamed in pain and began to use his talons to claw at Treecko, who was dodging…

"Not that Pokémon!" I yelled in exasperation. "That one! The doggish one!"

Neither listened to me, engaged in a savage duel to the death.

I crouched, having to search a moment before locating the final pokéball in the overgrown grass, and let it out, careful not to touch the questionable stain. Out burst a pathetic-looking blue Pokémon with a weird fin quivering on his head.

The man was nearly sobbing now. "M-mudkip, the Mud Fish Pokémon…"

"What does it know?" I asked tiredly, watching mournfully as the tide turned on Treecko and the tiny chick began to thrash him. He wasn't so incredible, after all…

I couldn't hear the man's reply over Torchic's mad cawing and Treecko agonized (and agonizing) "trreEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeee_…_"

"Tackle," I guessed, distracted by the Treecko-Torchic fight. That chick wasn't so bad; was he using Scratch attack? Maybe after he was done torturing Treecko, he'd help out his master—or at least, I presumed the professor to be his trainer. And I presumed he was a professor because he was wearing a lab coat. All he'd need a gleaming pair of glasses and he'd be the most useless evil professor ever…

Mudkip charged forward, jumping into the air—not as high as Treecko, I noted forlornly—and threw itself against the mad dog, knocking it to the ground.

"Tackle?" I said in surprise.

"Ki!" Mudkip cried, voice young and inexperienced.

The other Pokémon growled, a low, long sound that had me gulping. Eheheh, maybe I'd misjudged her a bit? She suddenly seemed much stronger now that her positively malicious yellow and red eyes stared Mudkip and me down.

Red eyes—Brice! My mind snapped into gear, imagining his expression if he'd seen me freeze up fighting a what, level five? Pokémon.

"Alright, Mudkip, use Tackle!" I shouted, and Mudkip ran at the dog, who dodged quickly, and charged Mudkip.

"Dodge—" But I was too late, and Mudkip sprawled across the ground. Not letting up for a moment, Dog pounced, flaming jaws clamping down on Mudkip's tail. Mudkip cried out in pain.

By the fire, I'd guess that was a fire-type move—Fire Fang, maybe?—but it shouldn't do much, since Mudkip was a water-type, right? Hey, did that mean Dog was a fire-type, so Mudkip had the advantage?

"Hold on there, Mudkip! Use Water Gun!"

Mudkip gave me a pained impression of a blank look on his fish-face before Dog yanked hard, shaking her head viciously to throw Mudkip back and forth.

Oh, crap! I was going to lose!

I looked around, panicking, as I sought an advantage—and found it in the form of smug Torchic sitting triumphantly on Treecko's beaten and unconscious body. I gave him a look of respect, and then a plan occurred to me.

"Try to get free!" I ordered Mudkip, who moments later was sent crashing into a tree. Trembling, he got to his feet, and Dog howled at him before rushing forward.

"Run over there!" I yelled, pointing in Torchic's direction. Mudkip shakily obeyed, limping, and we were lucky it wasn't so far. Mudkip plunged past Torchic, who looked up curiously as he ran past. Dog barreled into Torchic, causing him to give a loud, indignant squawk of surprise, and he toppled off Treecko as Dog got entangled.

"Alright, Torchic, Scratch!" I called gleefully as Torchic descended upon Dog, talons slashing, and Dog let out a surprised whine, struggling to escape. "Mudkip, Tackle her into the tree! But don't hit Torchic, so Torchic, dodge!"

I wasn't sure if Torchic would understand, or obey, but fortunately Dog managed to throw him off moments before Mudkip stormed in with a resounding Tackle, ramming Dog into the tree. I could see it was a critical hit.

I laughed in relief. "We did it! Great job, guys! You beat him!"

"You most certainly did," agreed the man, who was still up the tree. "I'm lucky you came along."

_Yeah,_ I wanted to agree, but suddenly I felt very weak and light-headed. Looking down, I saw my hands were trembling. I inwardly cursed, embarrassed at my spinelessness. I shoved in my pockets to hide the shaking. I squinted up at the professor. "What're you doing up there? Counting leaves?"

He laughed feebly. "I, uh, can't get down…"

I felt like smacking him. Or myself. Or the tree. I'd better stick to the tree.

"Oookay…" I sighed. "Let's see…" I looked around. Treecko was out cold, so he couldn't climb up and help the guy. Torchic was preening himself, very pleased with the much softer nest Dog made. Mudkip had wandered over to me, shaking like my hands. I crouched down to pick him up. His blue skin was yuckily damp, though if it was natural or sweat, I wasn't sure.

"Whaddaya think, buddy?" I asked him. "How should we get'im down?"

Mudkip buried his face in my chest, not bothering to answer. One of his orange gills poked my arm uncomfortably, and I grimaced. I walked over to the bag, wondering if there was rope…no, no rope.

"Can you just drop?" I asked him. He wasn't too far up off the ground, about six feet, but by his expression, he seemed very nervous with the idea. Pansy. He'd definitely left it in his bag.

Feeling distinctly annoyed, I snapped, "Either you drop, or Mudkip Tackles the tree till you fall. Get it? Which do you choose?"

He chose to drop, though he took his sweet time about it. In the end, it was only my threat to rip every paper in his bag that convinced him to take the risk, and he made an exaggerated noise as he hit the ground.

"See?" I said impatiently. "Now here, your stuff is all around here. I stuffed most of what came out into your bag." I thrust the bag at him. "I've also found two pokéballs, not sure which, but the final's rolled off somewhere. I think it's Mudkip's, 'cause the ones I found didn't have the stain on it."

"Thank you," the man said, rubbing his back with one hand as he accepted the bag. I waited as he settled the bag across his shoulders before holding out his hands for the two pokéballs. "I'm very grateful to you," he said, and I inwardly rolled my eyes, _here we go_, "and since I get the feeling you're a type for action, I'm going to let you keep the Pokémon you battled with."

It took several moments for me to fully process that. "SERIOUSLY?" I yelled, dumbfounded and delighted.

He grinned at my enthusiasm. "Yes."

I beamed at him, all unsympathetic thoughts gone like morning dew. "Thanks a ton, Professor!" I turned happily towards Torchic, but he and Treecko dissolved into red light. I blinked, confused, and looked at the man.

"So I'll take these two to the lab, and you keep Mudkip," he said, tucking the pokéballs away, and I suddenly felt cheated. Mudkip may have dealt the final blow, but he had had help, and Torchic had both been instrumental to the dog fight and had taken out Treecko all on his own.

But any Pokémon was better than none, and the professor might change his mind if I acted all stuck-up "Torchic MINE!" so I nodded. It didn't matter that Mudkip would've been my last choice. Hadn't I just been musing on the fact I'd take any Pokémon, at this point?

"You should drop by," Professor said. "It's in Littleroot Town, just south of here. I'll give you a nifty gadget!" With the bait set, the professor ambled off.

I put Mudkip down, studying him critically. He was dirt- and grass-streaked and bruised. Definitely needed a trip to the Pokémon Center. Of course, Littleroot (Professor had jogged my memory; that was the name of the town I had moved to) was such an out-of-the way place it didn't even have a Pokémon Center.

"Well," I said to Mudkip, "we're gonna hafta find some other way of getting you healed. I don't know if there are any other towns nearby, though…" I considered heading anywhere but south in the hopes of coming across a sensible city, but rejected it as impractical. Didn't I have potions stashed in my PC storage, anyway? I thought our new house had an old, slow computer that had only the PC function… "Let's find your pokéball and head to Littleroot."

We crawled around for a while before finally finding the pokéball. I probably accidentally kicked it during the fight, for it to stray so far. I glanced back at the impromptu battlefield, realizing that if Dog hadn't attacked Professor, I might've never gotten a Pokémon till I was balding and toothless. "I guess I owe you one," I said grudgingly to the dark form. "C'mon Mudkip, I'll return you so don't have to walk the whole way."

A low moan me made me pause, and Mudkip and I turned to watch Dog stir. My head snapped back to Mudkip's horrified gaze, and a quick red flash later, I sprinted off, inwardly chanting, _Nice doggy, nice doggy, don't you _dare_ chase me_…

I hurried to the house, panting from my sprint and ignoring the occasional call from the old biddies knitting on their porches while berating their incompetent deaf husbands. I did some quick spy work and discovered Mom was in the kitchen, fussing over dinner choices. Right. In this town, I doubted we could order takeout.

I snuck in the front door and across the living room. I wished the TV were on, so it could conceal the small noises I made. The one thing this house had over our last one was the fact I had a TV in my room now (not that I'd had a chance to use it yet). I cringed as the stairs creaked, but Mom didn't seem to hear, and I escaped successfully to my room. My room was probably the most advanced room in the house, with a TV, Nintendo, computer, and a clock. The kitchen came in second, with a microwave, oven, and sink—there wasn't a dishwasher. In that vein, there weren't washing machines or driers either, so I was going to have to wash my clothes in the river and hang them up to dry. If I caught Brett or some perverted old guy messing with my underwear, ohhhhh, there's gonna be hell to pay.

I shut the door, pausing as a thought occurred to me. I had a Pokémon now. Why shouldn't I head off on a journey, and never have to deal with Brennan ever again?

Hm…I should write a note, so Mom would know I wasn't kidnapped or whatnot. She'd probably have someone track me down and haul me back by my collar either way, though… What if I talked to her sensibly? Out of the question, what if she decided I wasn't fit to care for Mudkip? Or that I might get dangerous ideas, with a Pokémon in my grasp? Or whatever bull she'd say this time?

_Am I going to run away?_ I wondered, faintly bemused with the concept. I shrugged it off a moment later, excusing it, _they have it coming, anyway._

I hurried over to my computer, and withdrew the single potion in there, as well as my emergency money fund I'd set up for myself. I dragged out my school backpack with a grimace—the zipper was broken, and the whole backpack had a beaten look to it after waging war against homework for the last year—and emptied all the junk in it.

Hey, I didn't know I still had this keychain! I jingled the cheerful cyndaquil keychain and put it to my side. I pulled out crumpled papers, my student ID, and a half-eaten sandwich in a plastic bag. I put the ID with the keychain, just in case, and flung the sandwich across the room at the trash bin. I missed, of course. I didn't go over to put it in.

I eyed my (mostly) emptied bag. Then I went through my suitcase, throwing aside my skirts and nice clothes and aiming for my worn, comfortable shirts, shorts, and jeans. I tossed my best all-weather jacket onto the bed (since when did I have pink sheets?) along with a pair of skintight gloves. I looked around the room. There was a green rug in front the of TV, and I could see a game controller on it. The clock hung on the wall, and read about five-thirty. A little later than I was expecting…probably should get a watch…

Seeing nothing to grab, I returned to the pile of appropriate clothes, and reduced it to a manageable amount. I might want to get a separate bag for Pokémon supplies in the future, though.

I stuffed the clothes willy-nilly into the backpack. In a smaller pocket, I put the keychain, ID, other potentially useful junk, and socks. I took off the gray sweater I was wearing now, and put on the other, which was a nice shade of blue and black. It had many nice, big pockets, and, more importantly, had _secret_ pockets on the inside. That, in addition to its durability and suitability for all weather conditions, made it my favorite jacket. I also squeezed into some old jeans that barely still fit me, as my other pants were mud-splattered from the battle.

I looked around the room again, wondering if that was it. Was that really all I needed? The money in my pocket—I abruptly turned and fished it out of the pocket of my gray sweater, laughing nervously to myself. A baaaad idea to start a journey without money. I had the potion though, right?

I found it in the pocket of my dirty pants.

Finally, I settled on the floor, one of my school notebooks in my lap and a tiny, blunt pencil in my hand; I couldn't find my pencil sharpener. I felt awkward. How does one go about writing a letter to your parents telling them you've run away? I flipped through the pages of the book, frowning absently at my badly scrawled notes.

Though, those could be useful…these were my Pokémon battle notes… Maybe my Pokémon care notes would be better?

I procrastinated for several minutes digging up it and fiddling with my other notes, looking for an answer in their filled pages.

Eventually, I just wrote:

_Mom—_

_ This is from me. I haven't been kidnapped, forced, etc, or anything; I'm going on a Pokémon journey. What better way for me to learn this new region? Don't try to find me, and I'll call you sometimes._

_ See ya sometime. I'll drop by when I have my first few contest ribbons._

_—may_

The region sentence was an obvious bribe, as she had been complaining about my narrow-mindedness in rejecting Hoenn before even setting foot in it. The stuff about contest ribbons was a red herring, and also meant to mollify her slightly: she'd always wanted me to go into coordinating, and I had watched contests on TV when I found out they were on. Any people she sent after me in her paranoia would be looking for young coordinator May, who shouldn't be hard at all to find—not for rookie trainer Sapphire, my middle name.

Looking over it absently for spelling or grammar as I hesitated, I reflected my lower-case name should reassure her it was from me: I never capitalized my name when I was signing a letter, something that had exasperated my grade school teachers.

I hid my extra clothing in my bed, making a sloppy impression of a human sleeping beneath the sheets.

I let out Mudkip, who peered around at my room with childlike interest. He whimpered with pain when I sprayed him with my potion. I returned him, then.

There was nothing left to do. I folded the letter twice, and stuck the pencil into a pocket. My Pokémon care notebook was shoved into my backpack, and I paused, noticing an stray blue bandanna with the pokéball symbol I hadn't noticed on the floor. Shrugging, I scooped it up, and stuffed it into a pocket. I turned off the lights, and shut the door behind me.

I crept down the stairs. The TV was on now, on her favorite show, and it masked the stairs' creaking. Mom wasn't in the room, though. She was probably listening from the kitchen. I passed by the TV, but stopped as I noticed out-of-place shoes on the low table by the couch. The nearby label proclaimed them "Running Shoes" and bragged about how you could run super fast in them: "They put a zip in your step!"

I looked down at my old, tattered sneakers and realized sheepishly that I probably would've gotten holes in them by the end of my first week of travel. I pulled off mine and slipped on the shoes. They were a little big, but nothing that tight shoelaces couldn't fix. I left my note beneath the old shoes on the table.

"Mom, I don't feel so good," I called. "I'm going to bed. I already ate with our neighbors, so don't worry about that." I knew the idea of me getting along with our neighbors pleased her. She would probably plan to get the details out of me tomorrow, and then interrogate the neighbors-in-question.

"Alright, dear," she called back. "Just give a holler if you need something." I looked wryly at the TV; she was always absentminded when _Pokémon Love_ was on.

Suddenly struck by impulse, I unfolded the letter, and snatched the pencil from behind my ear. I scribbled a quick, _PS love you_, at the bottom, and then replaced it under the sneakers, and left, the door shutting quietly behind me as someone on TV started singing horribly.

I walked briskly, sticking my hands into my pockets, pencil too.

The Pokémon Laboratory was easy to find, as it was the biggest building in Littleroot, and the only one that wasn't wooden. Standing on the doorstep, I realized it was also the only with a doorbell, which I pressed. There were a couple of red flowers scattered beneath a window to my left, I noticed.

The door opened, and a spectacled, graying woman looked down at me. "Yes?"

"Err, I was asked to come here by a professor," I said, realizing I'd neglected to find out which. "I saved him from a wild Pokémon earlier today."

Her severe face lightened. "Ah, yes. Professor Birch spoke of you. Come in, come in."

I obeyed, gaping slightly. That man was Professor Birch? The one Professor Oak of Kanto spoke of highly on his radio show, and who my mom gushed about him being friendly with my dad?

As we walked through the building, I realized that the lab was a very…spacey place. Every room had open space at its center, with equipment cluttered chaotically along the edges and spilling into other rooms. From what I'd seen, towering bookcases rather than walls divided the otherwise open lab into "rooms," and from the brief glimpses I'd gotten, they weren't dusty. Considering how many of these enormous bookcases there were, I realized the lab probably doubled as Littleroot's library.

"Here we are," my guide announced, straightening her white coat. I saw Birch and some helper studying something beneath a microscope, and discussing it in low voices. "He'll be with you shortly. You can sit on that bench while waiting." She pointed to the bench.

I was too busy adapting to and watching the lab to respond sarcastically, and instead obediently sat down like a little kid and stared around me like an even littler one.

I fingered my pencil in my pocket, watching as some young scientist tottered past, carrying a veritable mountain of books. Because I hated sitting still and wanted to wander the lab some, I took half of the books and carried them to his workstation. I "got lost" on the way back, making a detour to play with an unreasonably serious Pokémon and make faces at her trainer behind his back, ending in success when the Pokémon's mask cracked and she snickered.

When I got back to my "waiting bench" there was someone sitting there. She looked to be about my age, maybe a little older, and she met my eyes with her verdant ones. She gave me a slow smile and slid over to make room.

I sat down as far as I could from her. She had wickedly sharp nails painted crimson to match her hair. The only thing sharper than her nails was her razor-smile. She tapped the bench idly, nails clicking, as she watched me from beneath dark lashes. Her eyes seemed luminous and impossibly green: greener than the trees and grass. I bet she was wearing contacts.

Awkward under that intense gaze, I ignored her, hoping she'd return the favor. However, she was the sociable type. She leaned forward, into my personal space, and murmured, "Heeey, handsome…"

I refrained from choking in surprise. This was the first time in a long time since I'd been mistaken for a boy. On that topic, though, my hair was getting a little long… How did I look male?

"What's your name?" she asked. She made just looking at me a flirtatious thing.

I wanted to laugh at her performance. It had been seriously too long since someone thought I was a boy. Sapphire…Sapph could be a boy's name, right? "Sapph," I answered monotonously.

She paused, uncertain, and looked me over. She seemed to dismiss it a moment later. "Mm…it's a pleasure, Sapph. I'm Amera. Do you work here?"

_Am I wearing a white coat?_ "No."

"Why are you here, then?" she asked, head tilted aside so her curls fell across her bare shoulder, drawing attention to her delicate build and pale collar bones.

"I saved a professor," I admitted, trying hard not to laugh—or even grin. I flicked my gaze over to Birch and his coworker, who were arguing quietly over something.

"How heroic," she murmured, a curious note to it. She moved closer. "What from?"

I paused, realizing I didn't know Dog's species. I shrugged. "Some Pokémon. Not sure what it's called." The argument had settled, and, brushing off his lab coat, Birch approached us with a wide grin.

"Ah, good, you're here!" he said genially. "I'm glad you've gotten acquainted with one another."

Amera stood, holding out her hand. "It's an honor to meet you, sir," she enthused, "I'm Amera!"

Birch chuckled modestly, shaking her hand. "Thank you, thank you. Erm…" He looked at me. "Amera is here to get her first Pokémon. Would you mind if I got that sorted out, so I can give you both your gifts?"

I shrugged, inwardly gleeful.

"Great! Now, if you'll come this way…" Birch led us to a machine with three circular indents. One was empty. Amera frowned.

"Why's there nothing there, Professor?" she asked, pointing a manicured hand at the spot.

"Wahaha. That pokéball was Mudkip's, who was chosen by this young trainer right here," Birch said, slapping me on the back. I glared at him, embarrassed by his friendliness and his careless unveiling of the fact.

Amera looked at me, emerald eyes wide. "You just got your first Pokémon _today?_" she asked incredulously, looking me over as if reassessing.

I gave a short nod.

"Go ahead and open the other two balls," suggested Birch. Amera obeyed with hasty movements and glowing eyes.

"Who's in here?"

Treecko emerged from his pokéball, and looked up at Amera, who stared down blankly at him. A moment later, she backed away, nose wrinkling slightly.

Five minutes too late, I realized who Amera would choose.

"Okay, this pokéball." Amera tossed out the pokéball, and Torchic appeared, in all his orange, fluffy glory. Just as he had with me, Torchic gazed up at Amera with sparkling eyes, and I swear Amera squealed.

"This one! I want this one!"

I glared at her darkly, but she was so wrapped up in Torchic and her dreamy world she didn't have a chance of noticing. No fair, why did she get the strongest of them?

Birch clapped in delight, and returned the slumped Treecko. "Excellent! Now…here you two go. I had ordered these special, but I think you have greater need for them," He pulled two red devices from his pockets. "PokéDexes!"

"Gee! Thanks, Professor!" cried Amera, and I thought there was something sarcastic about her tone.

Giving her a rebuking look, I asked, "What's a PokéDex?"

Birch handed us each one, saying, "A PokéDex is a tool with data on most Pokémon in the world. It can tell you a Pokémon's species, some information about it, like migration habits, where it can be found, what its cry sounds like, and what attacks it knows."

My eyes widened. "It can tell you what a Pokémon knows?"

"Only if that Pokémon is yours."

"Wow," I said, elated. "That's really useful."

Birch winked at me. "I thought that's what you'd say."

I turned it over in my hands, feeling it curiously and opening it.

"It also acts as a person's ID," Birch added. "I took the privilege of registering you both."

My eyebrows shot up. "But you don't know my name?" I said, confused.

Birch chuckled. "I didn't recognize you at first. Imagine my surprise when I realized my savior was none other than my old friend Norman's daughter!"

"Wait," said Amera, cutting abruptly into the conversation. "Daughter?" She stared at me.

"Well, yes," said Birch, slightly off-balanced at being interrupted with such an inane question. "Norman's daughter. You didn't know? I thought you had already introduced yourselves…?" he trailed off at Amera's expression.

Amera's face was coloring rapidly, twisting with fury, and I couldn't quite smother my amused grin. She blew up, and slapped me. Hard. Those nails were no joke. "How _dare_ you!" she seethed. "How _DARE_ you!"

I clutched at my bloody cheek, eyes watering with pain. "Yeow," I mumbled. "Hey, no reason to overreact."

Amera sputtered for a moment, utterly incoherent, before trying to slap me again. Wise to her ways, I dodged. "You bitch!" she shrieked.

"Hey, hey," interjected Birch weakly, waving a hand at her. "She has a point, n-no reason to get worked up?"

I scrambled backwards, yanking out my pokéball. Intensely grateful I'd healed Mudkip earlier, I let him out. "On guard, Mudkip!"

Amera hurled Torchic's pokéball and Torchic burst out. My mind was running with possibilities and ideas and complaints as I tried to figure out a way to defeat Torchic. Out of the two, I was pretty sure Torchic was the stronger, especially when angered. I'd have to try to keep from vexing him, but I suspected it would be impossible to win the battle in one hit. After all, being attacked was what infuriated Torchic.

Torchic didn't look like he had strong defense, but instead high attack, and looked like a fire-type to Mudkip's water-type. If Mudkip knew a water-type move—

Ah, my PokéDex! I fumbled, turning it on, and pointed it at Mudkip. In a clear voice, the PokéDex said, "Mudkip, the Mud Fish Pokémon. On land, it can powerfully lift large boulders by planting its four feet and heaving. It sleeps by burying itself in soil at the water's edge." A menu popped up on the screen, and I touched "Moves". It read: _Tackle, Growl_.

My heart fell. No water-type moves. The only advantage we had was that Torchic's fire-type moves—if he knew any—wouldn't be very effective.

I pointed my PokéDex at the enemy. "Torchic, the Chick Pokémon. If attacked, it strikes back by spitting balls of fire it forms in its stomach. A torchic dislikes darkness because it can't see its surroundings."

I glanced up at the lights overhead. _I don't think Birch would appreciate it if I busted his lights._

Amera yelled, "Torchic! Scratch!"

From the battle before, I knew Torchic was faster as he darted towards Mudkip. "Growl!"

Mudkip barely had time to growl, lowering Torchic's attack power, before Torchic struck. Still, the force of Torchic's powerful Scratch—_Like trainer like owner,_ I thought dryly, the slashes on my cheek stinging—had knocked Mudkip back. I knew I had made the right decision. "Retaliate with Tackle!"

—now Mudkip was lurching forward, throwing himself off the ground to slam into Torchic; close-range so Torchic didn't have time to use his superior speed to dodge. Torchic staggered back, hurt, but snapped back into action with the enraged, "Scratch!" from Amera.

"Growl! Throw Torchic back, then Tackle!" I shouted, realizing I had this battle in the bag.

Again, Torchic struck, talons dragging across Mudkip's forehead. This time it wasn't so strong, and with a mighty toss of his head, Mudkip sent Torchic tumbling back. Mudkip pressed his advantage, surging forward in a Tackle. Torchic rolled end over end, before slowing. Torchic struggled weakly, but without arms and too tired to jump, he couldn't get up. He lay there, flapping pathetically and keening.

Mudkip was shaking, but standing.

"Forfeit," I told Amera. "It's over."

Crimson-face, she shouted, "You useless chicken!" but returned Torchic. Hair seeming to flame with fury, she advanced on me, drawing out another pokéball.

"Kiii!" Suddenly Mudkip spun sharply in place, and mud sprayed all over Amera. She shrieked in surprised disgust, and drew to a stop. Her eyes stared out from a mud-covered face, her hair no longer seemed to bristle, and she had a new mud-shirt and mud-pants. She looked ridiculous, like a little kid in a messed up Halloween costume, and I burst out laughing, "_Fantastic!_ You're a genius, Mudkip!"

Mudkip looked quite proud of himself.

Spitting out mud, her eyes glared at me hatefully. "This. Isn't. Over!" she snarled, and stampeded past, leaving a trail of mud dripping after her.

I caught my breath, wheezing slightly.

"And she seemed like such a nice girl," said Birch mournfully, looking disillusioned.

I shrugged, walking over to Mudkip. "You did great," I told him, crouching. He let me lift him, seeming relieved and exhausted. "Do you have something I can heal Mudkip with here?" I asked.

"Hm? Oh, yes, of course! This way," Birch said, ushering me away. He had me return Mudkip, and place him in a machine that Birch claimed would heal Mudkip. As I was out of potions, I was hardly in a position to argue.

As we waited for the machine to work its medical magic, Birch said worriedly, "I hope Torchic is alright."

I didn't tell him she could be pretty rotten without being so all the way through, but instead I said, "Torchic'll be fine. He's tough; doesn't lie down and take stuff. 'Sides," I added, thinking of Amera's honest joy with Torchic, "She likes him. She's just…frustrated. And humiliated. Anyone would be." Mollified by the exciting victory, I was in a generous mood.

Birch was looking at me with an irritatingly thoughtful look. "You wouldn't, though. Lose control like that, I mean." It was ridiculously presumptuous, coming from someone whose total time in my company didn't even add up to forty-five minutes. Maybe even half an hour. Plus, he didn't know the whole story.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You don't know that, and FYI, I probably would."

"Norman wouldn't have raised you that way," Birch said confidently, and my ire went up a few notches.

"Well," I said, "_Norman_ isn't always around."

"Hey, Dad," said Brandon (?) casually, strolling in and appearing very aloof as he eyed me. "I heard there was a ruckus? A battle? I thought you said no fighting in the lab…"

"It wasn't my idea," Birch said wearily. "I believe you two have met?"

We nodded.

"She's the new girl who has no Pokémon," said Brandon, making my eye twitch. "Mary."

"Actually, I do have a Pokémon," I said through gritted teeth, "And it's May, Brandon."

He looked at me, offended. "I thought you said you didn't have any. It's _Brendan_."

"I didn't then, but I do now."

Brendan looked at his father. "You gave her one? There's still one for me, right?"

"Of course," Birch reassured him. "And, lucky you, it's Treecko!" Birch pulled a pokéball out of his pocket and handed it to a grinning Brendan. "I know Treecko was the one you wanted from the start." Brendan took the pokéball, and threw a smirk at me, silently pointing out how the world had somehow bent to his wishes to give him the Pokémon he wanted on a silver platter. It was really messed up, but I suddenly really wished I'd gotten Treecko, if only to wipe the superior look Brendan was achieving to new heights.

It's funny how my luck worked out. Amera got the strongest of them, and Brendan got the coolest. Maybe Mudkip was the smartest? Or…did beating Torchic by strategy imply Mudkip was stronger, or that I was smarter than Amera?

"Maybe you two could battle," suggested Birch guilelessly, but perhaps unconsciously picking up on the unfriendly vibes.

"No battling in the lab, Dad," Brendan chided him. "Anyways, I've got better things to do than play around with a newbie. It wouldn't be fair to her, anyway."

"Me and Mudkip can totally take you," I told him darkly, a fist clenching.

Brendan had the gall to _roll his eyes_. He was so going to taste my dust—excuse me, I meant _mud_. "Your Pokémon's still recovering, May. You should give it time to rest." He hesitated, and then added, "I'll be on Route 103, and if you can get to me, I'll consider battling you. Later, newbie. I've got _real_ work to do." He sauntered out.

I snarled after him.

"I'm sorry," said Birch apologetically, "He gets like that sometimes."

"More like _all the freakin' time_," I growled under my breath.

"Excuse me?" Birch asked, confused, "I didn't hear you."

"Nothing," I said louder. "Where's Route 103?"

"Going to challenge him?" said Birch shrewdly, but didn't wait. "Route 103 is north of here. Route 101 is the path leading north out of Littleroot; it ends in Oldale Town. Route 103 is the northern exit of Oldale. Oh, also," he fished around in his lab coat pockets, "it should have been Amera, but since she's not here, I'll compensate you." He handed me several hundred pokédollars. "And finally, I was going to give these to my son, but I'm guessing you don't have any pokéballs to catch wild Pokémon with." He deposited five small red-and-white balls into my hands. I stared at him speechlessly, eyes wide. First Mudkip, then the PokéDex, then money, now pokéballs?

"Is there—" I stopped, clearing my throat, "is there anything I can do for you?"

"I'd like if you'd register as many Pokémon in your PokéDex as possible by capturing them." Birch chuckled at me. "And perhaps you and my son can become friends."

I blinked at him in surprise, unsure of how to respond. Mudkip saved me as the machine_ bleep_ed and ejected Mudkip's pokéball. I hurriedly grabbed it. "Thanks, Professor, for, yeah, everything."

"Anytime, dear. You are Norman's daughter, after all."

Distinctly uncomfortably with that comment, I beat a hasty retreat to avoid answering and to not give Birch enough time to change his mind. Outside, I saw the sun had almost completely set, and I pulled my jacket tighter.

I broke into a jog, heading north like instructed. About five minutes into my run and two battles against small Pokémon my PokéDex called zigzagoon, I realized that I'd officially started my Pokémon journey. Another five minutes later and a battle against a new Pokémon called wurmple, I realized that I'd failed to inquire how _far_ this Oldale Town was, and I slowed to a walk, wondering if I was going to have to camp outside on my first night journeying. I didn't have a tent or anything.

Fortunately, I spotted the glow of civilization ahead, and I broke into a trot again. To my relief, there was a Pokémon Center, and I made a beeline for it.

Someone grabbed my arm. "Hey there, traveler," chirped a long-haired man wearing an apron, "just arrived? Sore and tired? Your Pokémon hurt? Why should you have to wait to reach a Pokémon Center before healing them?"

"Err, just a moment," I began a bit desperately as he started dragging me away from the friendly Pokémon Center neon sign.

"The PokéMart comes to your rescue!" he declared, releasing me and throwing out his hands dramatically. I dutifully followed his eyes and saw a building with a blue sign reading _PokéMart_. "We sell all sorts of goods, from well-preserved food for the road to potions to heal your Pokémon with! Here, I'll give you a sample for free!" He pulled a potion from his apron with a flourish, and gave it to me. "Make sure to visit us!" And he entered the store.

I eyed the potion in my hand, wondering uneasily if it were poisoned or something, before putting it away and all but sprinting to the Pokémon Center. I was not accosted again, and a cheerful Nurse Joy took Mudkip's pokéball to the back to be healed. She gave me a room key for the night, and showed me to a cafeteria for dinner (my growling stomach gave me away).

Despite the comfy bed and my tired body, I didn't sleep well that night. I spent most of it thinking of Mom and home and of the many ways things could go wrong. What if Birch stopped by Mom's house and talked with her, and she found out I wasn't actually upstairs sleeping? I wondered how long I had until Mom realized what I'd done, when she'd find the note, and if she would send Dad after me. Dad's city, Petalburg, was nearby, right? What if I had to pass through it? Everything seemed so rural here, I was sure gossip about travelers spread easily. How was I going to keep people from realizing who I was? It sounded like I needed a disguise…

* * *

To be clear—her first name is May, and her middle name is Sapphire. She called herself Sapph because it was part of Sapphire.

January 30, 2012: Grammar edits, added accents to "poké" words

April 23, 2013: Grammar edits

June 20, 2013: Grammar edits. _This story is being rewritten, so if you come up with any great ideas, feel free to send them to me via PM or a review! Guest reviewing is enabled for anyone who doesn't have an account!_ =)

Please, review!

—xxsapphireheartxx


	2. Chapter 2: Horrible Haircut

Heroes of Hoenn

_Red, Gold, and now me––Steven says it's fate. I have to disagree. It's terrible, terrible, good luck. [Based on RSE]_

Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me, nor do its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Horrible Haircut**

* * *

When my alarm went off at seven o'clock in the morning, I showered in a daze. It wasn't until I looked in the mirror that I realized the consequences of my worrying the previous, now very blurry, night.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but after such an exhausting day and a night plagued by fears, the craziest things were sane. But the idea of it was good! I was on the run, after all, so it would be wise to change how I looked. But…

I stared at my reflection, stunned. It wasn't the dark shadows beneath my eyes, but rather my now (in general terms) chin-length hair. It looked as if a drunken toddler had chopped it with scissors, being slightly longer than my chin in some places, and in others so short I must've pressed the scissors flat against my skull. I gingerly prodded my head and found a few bloody spots where I had stabbed myself in the process of giving myself the world's worst haircut.

I stared at my reflection with numb horror, wondering exactly _what_ had been going through my mind when I did this. Sure, I'd thought my hair was getting long, but…

Fortunately, the nice Joy from last night was both unquestioning and discreet, and she straightened my hair a bit. She also wrapped bandages around my head, got bandages for my scratched face, and gave me some for my journey. I thanked her profusely, but she refused payment. She had breakfast with Mudkip and me in the cafeteria, and I ended up spilling a lot; nothing about running away, but I told her about Brendan's arrogance and how I was going to challenge him.

"Be careful," she cautioned. "You'll want to spend today training and getting to know your Mudkip." She smiled down at my Pokémon. "It'll probably be a one-on-one battle, and most likely he'll use Treecko. Use that to your advantage. Have you ever battled a trainer before?"

I told her the details of my fight with Amera. She was a wonderful listener, and she gave good advice. Her impressed look when I told her how I'd used Torchic's lightness and its lack of four limbs against it made me feel intensely proud of Mudkip and myself; Mudkip seemed to feel the same. He insisted on sitting in Joy's lap, and whenever she stroked a certain part near his fin, he'd give this satisfied sigh.

"You hardly sound like you need my help," said Nurse Joy wryly. "You've a head for strategy."

I shook my head, chewing toast. "I was bad. At the beginning, all I considered were stats and type advantages."

"But you improved," she reminded me. "And now you won't start a battle like that."

I nodded; she had a point. "Mm-hm."

We sat in silence for a while, before I asked, "Is there somewhere nearby I can battle grass-type Pokémon?"

"There aren't many wild grass-types near here. Mostly we have wurmple, zigzagoon, and poochyena, though on Route 102 there's sometimes seedot or lotad. You might ask one of the trainers staying here, though. It'd be good for you to get some more experience before battling Brendan." She laughed slightly, "Battling against other trainers is very nerve-wracking at first, so learning to not be pressured or distracted by the fact is important."

I brightened. "That's a great idea. I'd better do it quick, though, since people'll be leaving. How many trainers are staying here right now?"

"Um…" she paused, "I'm not sure. Not many, though. I think…three? But some of our residents are very experienced, though retired, trainers. Asking them for advice or a battle is also a good idea. They're very kind people, and will be flattered if you ask them."

I nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you, I think I'll do just that." I jammed the last of the toast into my mouth, beckoning Mudkip, who gave me a tortured, _"Do I have to?"_ look, but reluctantly got out of Joy's lap.

I challenged every trainer in the Pokémon Center. The first was a ten-year-old boy with a zigzagoon; the second was a bug catcher girl with four wurmple and an evolved form of it, cascoon. The final was a young girl with a seedot; a grass-type Pokémon that knew only Bide. We healed up between battles.

After we'd finished, I went out to the PokéMart and bought travel supplies, haggling fiercely with the man from last night over the prices. I was pleased with the results. I had a feeling not many trainers passed through Oldale, giving the mart a distinct lack of business that made the owner a bit desperate. Then Mudkip and I went around Oldale, asking old people for battles and advice. Like Joy had predicted, they were delighted someone was seeking wisdom from them, and helped me enthusiastically. I might have accidentally became a town project as all the residents gathered up to watch Mudkip and me train and suggest applications for moves. Even a strange guy examining footprints paused to make a suggestion to me.

Even so, I think the greatest lesson I learned that day was from Joy: she was the one who opened my eyes to the resources around me. I don't think I would have thought of that on my own, and if I had, pride or awkwardness would have held me back.

That afternoon, aware of the time limit on me, I left for Route 103. I pulled my hood up to hide my new haircut, both because it was embarrassing, and because Brendan could go tattling to Daddy about my new look, which since I was trying to disguise myself, was not a good idea.

Since Mudkip was a rare Pokémon, it might be for naught if they just looked for a rookie with a mudkip, but I'd rather not take the chance.

I avoided all the battles I could, cursing Brendan as I fought my way through stubborn wilderness. Finally, I found him, sprawled on the grass with a PokéDex out.

"HEY! YOU!" I hollered, gaining his attention. He looked surprised.

"What're you doing there?"

I stomped over to him. "I'm here to beat your pansy butt black and blue! Now get up and fight me!"

He scrambled to his feet, probably feeling vulnerable all spread out on the ground with me looming over him. "All right, but I warn you: I'm _good_. So you can't say I cheated, I'll use only one Pokémon: the treecko I got yesterday. You still wanna?"

"You don't scare me. On guard!" I pulled out Mudkip's ball in a fluid motion and tossed it. Mudkip appeared, tense and ready. Because of the wild Pokémon battles on the way here, I'd told him that when I said "On guard" it meant this was the real deal, not some level two wurmple.

By the way, I said wurmple in particular because a) they had awful defense, even if they could use string shot (which really tied us up the first time we faced it) and b) because on the way here, Mudkip had freaked coming out of the pokéball and leveled the wurmple with a powerful, learned at that moment, Water Gun attack.

"Treecko, go!"

Looking over my enemy, I saw he probably hadn't trained Treecko at all since yesterday. I licked my lips nervously, pulling out my PokéDex and aiming it at Treecko. Treecko was a grass-type, which meant Water Gun and Mud-Slap weren't very effective against it. This was going to be a tricky battle.

"Treecko, the Wood Gecko Pokémon," began my PokéDex, "It makes its nest in a giant tree in the forest. It ferociously guards against anything nearing its territory. It is said to be the protector of the forest's trees."

Treecko's special defense—that is, loosely defined as the defense against moves that didn't make contact between him and Mudkip, such as Water Gun and Mud-Slap—was high, according to Anabeth, a kind old woman who'd once had a treecko, now a sceptile, of her own. That, combined with the type disadvantage of the moves meant Tackle was Mudkip's strongest move against this opponent.

"Alright! Start this off with Leer!" ordered Brendan.

Treecko got an evil look in his yellow eyes, and Mudkip cringed slightly, gulping.

"Mud-Slap," I called, and Mudkip began to create mud, flinging it at Treecko—

"Dodge!"

—who easily avoided it. Whoa, that was _fast_; faster than Torchic.

"Speed things up with Pound," yelled Brendan, and Treecko fell to all fours, blurring forward—

"Growl!"

—and twisted around, tail whipping Mudkip across the face like a slap before he could so much as utter a sound. Mudkip was sent skidding back, bracing himself.

"Growl," I called, forcing away the panic. Treecko's attack wasn't so high, not nearly as much as Torchic's, but combined with Leer… "And Growl again."

"Leer." Brendan was far more experienced than Amera and wasn't going to lose his cool. He also understood the advantages moves like Leer and Growl could give, especially at a low-level battle like this. "Leer."

"Mud-Slap!" I yelled, which Treecko again dodged easily. "Keep trying! Don't let'im approach you!"

"Dodge behind a tree," snapped Brendan, and Treecko ducked behind one. "Climb it, and go to another."

An aerial attack. I grimaced, scanning the trees for Treecko's presence. "Stop using Mud-Slap, and Growl!"

That was the advantage Growl had over Leer: to use Leer effectively, you had to be in each other's vision, while with Growl, Mudkip didn't have to know where Treecko was; he just had to Growl as loudly as possible to make him hear.

"Be ready for an attack from above," I called. Mudkip continued to Growl. Both Brendan and I knew the longer Mudkip Growled, the worse off for him, and so he attacked as quickly. Meaning, I heard Brendan's shout, and saw Mudkip go sprawling from Pound, but I never even saw Treecko.

"Where?"

Mudkip rolled to his feet, staring in the direction the attack had come from. Treecko was hidden; the attack hadn't come from above. He'd snuck down a tree, into the overgrown grass where he was now hiding—

"Go into the grass!" I yelled, Mudkip dashing into the grass where I could see; barely leashed panic lent my voice power, "Use your fin to locate Treecko! If he knows you're there, Water Gun! If he doesn't, Tackle!"

An interesting discovery we'd made at Oldale was that Mudkip could use his fin to sense his surroundings. I'd immediately realized the potential for it.

Brendan knew, too. "Escape—"

"KIIIIIIP!"

"TREEK!"

"Keep at'im!" I shouted, "Don't let him get to the trees! Mud-Slap to blind him!"

"KO! KO!"

"Pound at the attack," shouted Brendan. "And get out of there as quick as possible!"

I ran over to the grass, trying to get a view of what sounded like a brawl.

"KI!"

"KO!"

"KIIIIIIII…"

"TREE…"

Treecko staggered out of the grass, and then scrambled up the nearest tree. He looked worse for the wear, with his own mud-suit. When Mudkip emerged, he looked battered and a little dazed, as if he'd been hit over the head repeatedly.

"Pound!"

"Water Gun UP!" I screamed, watching as Treecko descended, lethal tail at the ready…

A column of water plowed into Treecko, throwing him up, up, up through branches into sky, and then stopped. Treecko began to plummet to the ground.

"Catch a branch!" yelled Brendan, and Treecko readied himself for when he was within reach of a tree branch.

"Water Gun!" I cried out, because he couldn't dodge like that, and he was barely conscious, and Water Gun was WAY more powerful than I'd ever seen it before.

The roaring water struck Treecko once more, and this time on the way down, he didn't try to grasp a branch. Brendan threw himself forward in time to catch the still Treecko.

After a quick inspection, he declared, "Treecko's unable to fight." He returned his Pokémon, and turned to me. "You win."

I ran over to Mudkip, picking up his bruised body. "You're the awesomest," I whispered, "You beat them _both_." And then I returned him.

Brendan was giving me a considering, almost calculative look. "It's rookie's luck, obviously—"

My fist spasmed.

"—but you still did good," he conceded. "For a newbie. I definitely didn't think you'd win, even though I've just gotten Treecko. Most beginners lose their head in a battle, but you kept at it." He paused, and then added, "Though you did scream once or twice."

"Shut up," I hissed. _As if you didn't._

"Yeah, yeah." Brendan stuck his arms behind his head nonchalantly. "I think I kinda get why my dad's taken an interest in you, though you'd have lost if Torrent hadn't kicked in."

_What the heck is Torrent?_ I wondered, feeling my fist spasm again.

"You got that Pokémon yesterday, same as me, but it already is intensely loyal to you. Must be its personality, to get attached quickly," said Brendan. "Treecko's more aloof. Seeing you with Mudkip makes me want to work harder with Treecko." He tossed me a cocky grin, sidling over to me. He handed me some money. "Use this to buy some pokéballs, so next time we fight it won't be a wimpy one-on-one showdown, 'kay? I'll definitely cream you then. Later!"

He ran off. I ran after him, because that was the way back to Oldale. I dropped by the Pokémon Center, and while Mudkip healed, I breathlessly told Joy about my battle.

"That's great," she exclaimed. "I'm glad he took his loss well." She grinned at me. "Sounds like you've gotten yourself a rival already!"

I blinked, mouth half-open. Rival? Were Brendan and me rivals? Welllll…I'd definitely not call us "friends," so "rivals" seemed like a good way to put it, especially taking in the competitive pride under my sternum that beating him had lit. I nodded, finding myself grinning, a little too wide, and a bit foolishly. I stopped as soon as I realized it, and cleared my throat awkwardly. "Err…yeah." I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets.

A chansey waddled up to us, holding a tray with pokéball-sized indents in it. In one such depression was Mudkip's pokeball. I took it with polite thanks to the bearer, who chirruped happily and waddled off.

"You should nickname him," suggested Joy out of the blue.

"Wha?" I asked.

"You should nickname Mudkip."

I thought about it, getting to my feet. "Kip?"

Joy rolled her eyes. "I'll trust Mudkip to eliminate stupid nicknames. Stop by again sometime, okay?"

I nodded. "Mmkay. Bye, Nurse Joy." And then I left Oldale via Route 102, which, according to Joy, was a direct path through Petalburg City.

Mudkip wasn't strong enough to carry me across a long stretch of water. If he was, I'd be neck-deep in icy, salty, turbulent water, on my way to Slateport City, and I'd be intensely grateful. As it was, I was on Route 102 between Oldale Town and Petalburg City, battling a bug catcher with Mudkip (whom I still hadn't found a nickname for yet, as Joy shot down my sole idea of "Kip"), and feeling deeply unhappy, nervous, and sleep deprived. With the showdown of ME vs BRENDAN; MUDKIP vs TREECKO as my first really important trainer battle, I was utterly drained, and had nearly burst into tears after tripping over a darn tree root, which was beyond mortifying. The tears _and_ the root.

Finishing off yet _another_ wurmple with a Water Gun, I noticed the battle had ended. After battling Brendan, creaming these kids seemed almost therapeutic. I didn't return Mudkip, but approached the bug catcher for money. At least he was a bit older than the kiddies I'd faced so far; accepting the winner's fare from them had felt like taking their lunch money—which it pretty much was. It's a bit strange that the part of the battle I'd dreaded most was the end, when I'd take whatever money they had to offer me (which usually wasn't much).

"Wow, man," the guy sighed, shaking his head as I tucked away the money.

_I need a wallet,_ I thought absently. The money was getting all crumpled in my pockets, and could tear.

"I'm not sure what someone like you's doing here. Are you challenging Petalburg Gym? I've heard the new gym leader is _super_ tough—h-hey, you all right?"

I nodded. My desolate mood had taken a sharp fall with the overt mention of this…new gym leader.

"Do ya know the guy or something?" he asked curiously.

"No," I said darkly, "I just wish I did."

I stomped off, Mudkip hurrying to keep up with me. I needed to get through Petalburg _presto_, or risk being caught and sent home on the first full day of my Pokémon journey. Right back to Brendan's smirking face, no doubt. I can just i_ma_gine it: "Long time no see! The last time I saw you was the day after you ran away from home, which was…oh, _earlier today_."

I sped up. _If that happens, I'll forcibly remove that expression from his face. Preferably by clawing out an eye or two, plucking his eyebrows, and stuffing his mouth full of mud._

"Hey!" called an enthusiastic voice. I turned. It was another little kid, a crooked cap on his head. "Are you a rookie trainer too?" He was grinning toothily, and his excitement was almost contagious. _Almost_.

I nodded brusquely, Mudkip readying himself for a battle.

"Awesome! Let's battle!"

His first Pokémon was a poochyena, which was the dog Pokémon I'd saved Birch from yesterday. A lot of things had happened on _that_ day, too. I had a feeling this week was going to be full of "those days."

We beat Poochyena with a Water Gun + Tackle combo, and the following Pokémon was one I'd never seen before: Taillow, the TinySwallow Pokémon. Incredibly, it was even faster than Treecko, which was what made me really start to pay attention to the battle. It flew around speedily, dodging Water Guns, and since it was flying-type, Mud-Slap didn't affect it. Its special defense was low, though, and when it came in for an attack, a close-range Water Gun took it out. He'd been the best battle on this route so far, and I told him quite frankly as he paid me, "You're the best trainer I've encountered on Route 102" to which he blushed modestly and seemed pleased.

"Hey, wait," he called as I began to walk away. "Lemme show you something that you might not know."

I looked back at him curiously, and he gestured for me to follow. What he introduced me to were Hoenn's berries. He let me keep them. There's an Oran berry, which heals ten HP (half a potion! And they're free!), and a Pecha berry, which heals the poisoned condition. The other two, one Oran and one Pecha, we'd planted back in the soil so that they'd regrow. The boy, Allen, assured me they would grow, he'd make sure of it.

This informative and pleasant meeting and lifted my mood enough that when I saw a scared green-haired boy, I followed Mudkip over to him. "Are you lost?" I asked, and he jumped in surprise.

"N-no, it's just that," he breathed in deeply, and confessed, "I'm trying to catch my first Pokémon." Looking at me entreatingly with pale blue eyes, he added plaintively, "Please, help me? You look like a strong trainer…"

I blushed slightly, and cleared my throat, my hands finding refuge in my pockets. I recalled that one of my objectives from Birch had been to catch Pokémon. Maybe I should get started on that? "Okay," I agreed, "But beware, I've never caught a Pokémon before."

His eyes widened. "You haven't…? But why…"

"I just got my first Pokémon yesterday," I explained, gesturing down at Mudkip. "Meet Mudkip! Though, I'm trying to find a nickname for him…"

"How about you help me catch a Pokémon, and I help you nickname him?" he suggested. I studied him. He seemed like a sincere guy, he was my age, and he'd never caught a Pokémon before; his pallid, sickly pallor explained why. More than that, I could tell he was humble and kind.

"Sure," I smiled. "What's your name?"

"I'm Wally. You?"

"Sapph. But you can't tell anyone you saw me, okay?"

"Alright," he agreed. "Can I ask why?"

I shrugged. "C'mon. Do you have a Pokémon?"

"I-I was going to ask the n-new gym leader, but he wasn't in. So, no…"

"That's fine, I think Mudkip'll help you. Right?" I looked down at Mudkip, who nodded. Learning to capture Pokémon was important. "How many pokeballs do you have?"

"Just o-one. D…Do I need more?" he asked, worried.

"I'm not sure," I said, "But if you do, I've got some with me. Now, you just want any old Pokémon, right?"

Wally nodded furiously. "I'd love any Pokémon with all my heart."

"Good. That's the important thing," I said, satisfied. "So, head into the tall grass, and wander, and you'll run into a Pokémon… C'mon." I walked into the grass, Wally following closely behind. "See any?"

He squinted. "Maybe…there?"

"Alright, the moves Mudkip knows are Water Gun, Mud-Slap, Tackle, and Growl. Go for it!" I urged him, and Wally squared his shoulders.

"Okay. Here I go!"

I stared at the Pokémon Wally had spotted. I'd never seen one like it, so I fumbled for my PokéDex. It reminded me of Wally a little; it had a green head, and a frail look to it.

"Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. Ralts has the power to sense the emotions of people and Pokémon with the horns on its head. It takes cover if it senses any hostility." The PokéDex let out a final beep and then fell silent.

I looked at Wally in surprise. If he'd been hostile, the ralts would never have appeared before him. Even now, as he called for Mudkip to use Tackle, the ralts did not flee; he truly didn't mean her harm. He wanted to capture her.

"Try throwing your pokéball at her," I suggested.

Wally looked at me, wide-eyed. "But…I've only Tackled it once…?"

"Mudkip's Tackle is very strong. And I have a feeling that that ralts wants you to capture her, so she won't really put up a fight. Try."

Looking nervous, Wally pulled out his pokeball, and threw it at the ralts. The pokeball wiggled for a few moments before falling still. "I did it?" whispered Wally.

"Congrats!" I cheered. "You've done what even I haven't: captured a Pokémon!"

"Wow," said Wally, and sniffled, staggering over to pick up his pokeball. I pretended not to see him wipe at his eyes with his sleeve. "I did it. I did it. I did it!"

Suddenly he began coughing, falling to his knees. Alarmed, Mudkip and I ran to his side as he shook with the force of his fit. Watching him like that, I felt completely helpless. All I could do was grip his hand and feel its feeble grip back. The coughs eventually faded.

"My lungs are weak," Wally said raggedly. "Clean air is good for me, so I'm being sent to Verdanturf to live with my aunt and uncle."

We sat in silence for a moment.

"I ran away from home," I told him simply. "They wouldn't let me go on a Pokémon journey, so I ran off on one. My father…he's the gym leader of Petalburg. That's why I don't want you to tell anyone."

"I won't," he rasped. "You can count on me. …Is Sapph your real name?"

I shook my head. "I'm May; my middle name is Sapphire. What?"

Wally's head had jerked around to stare at me. "Y…you're a _girl?_"

"Yeah?"

His mouth was slightly agape, but then he looked away, flushing. "Sorry, I thought…"

Sitting still, I felt the epiphany of last night wash over me. "Of _course!_" I cried, leaping to my feet. "Amera! And now you!"

"I'm really, r-really sorry—"

"Why? It's genius," I said breathlessly. "_That's_ why I cut my hair! Wally, I'm gonna masquerade as a boy! They're looking for teenage girl May with aspirations of being a coordinator; I'll be Sapph, a teenage guy challenging gyms! …Except for Petalburg, at least at first. Maybe if I can work up enough money, I can even go back to Johto!" I exclaimed. "_Thanks!_ It's a perfect idea!"

"Y-you're welcome?" said Wally faintly. "Uh…should we start on Mudkip's nickname?"

"What?" I said distractedly. "Oh, right. Mmkay. It can't be Kip."

Wally agreed, and let out his new ralts. We sat down; Mudkip and me were due for a break, anyway, so I took out some light snacks.

"So…uh…how'd you…?" Wally gestured vaguely at his face, and after a moment, I realized he was referring to the scratches on my cheek.

I leaned towards him as if to tell a great secret, and said dramatically, "_Craaaaa_zy lady. Don't ask."

We started talking, and quickly got off-track. About five minutes later, I realized that even with my awesome boy-disguise, I still should hurry through Petalburg, so we'd better come up with a nickname.

"How about 'Flip'?" suggested Wally. "It sounds like Kip, but isn't."

"That's cute," I said eagerly. "Whaddya think? Can you do a flip?"

Mudkip's brow furrowed in concentration, and then he jumped, attempting one. He landed flat on his back, bending his fin. We all chuckled, and Mudkip hurried to right himself, face turning purplish as he blushed. His mouth turned over in a pout, and he said sulkily, "Muu…"

"I bet you can do one underwater, though," I said kindly, and Mudkip nodded, still pouting at his failure.

"Raaaaaaaaaaalll," churred Ralts dreamily.

"Hey, whaddya say we double-team some wild Pokémon?" I suggested. "Hm… Flip, flipper—Skipper! Skip! How about that? Skip?"

"I liked Flip better," demurred Wally, and Mudkip concurred.

"Okay," I sighed, grinning, "Flip is our top candidate! We'll make a final decision after some double-battling."

We quickly found a pair of zigzagoon, and made the discovery that Ralts knew only Growl. I could hardly leave Wally high and dry after that revelation, and we trained (Mudkip "Flip" attacking, and Ralts hanging back Growling) until Ralts learned Confusion two levels later. I shook Ralts's tiny hand when she did, all of us grinning at the accomplishment. I turned, and stopped in surprise when I saw another ralts. His head was tilted back so his red eyes were clearly visible, and he was staring right at me.

I breathed deeply, reminding myself this was a test of sorts. Mudkip and I took the challenge, Wally and his ralts watching from the sidelines. He was stubborn, and burst out of the first pokéball I threw at him (a shock for us), I missed with the second pokéball I threw at him (Wally laughingly told me I turned really red), and finally caught him with the third. By that time, Mudkip and I were out of breath, I'd already stopped to steady my temper at least a dozen times, and our surroundings were soaked and muddy. Wally showed us to Petalburg, where a Pokémon Center was.

"Congratulations," he told me, his grin a tad too wide, "you've just caught your first Pokémon."

"Shut up," I grumbled half-heartedly.

"Muu…" groaned Mudkip. This battle had taught me something about my partner: when he was excited or determined, or in a generally good mood, he said "Ki" or "Kip"; when he was doing the equivalent of pouting, he said "Muu". It was endearing; he sounded just like a miltank when he did it.

"Have you decided on a nickname?" Wally asked me as the city came into view.

"Yeah," I said, "Muu."

"What?"

"Mudkip?"

"Or maybe Muumuu…" I mused.

"Mudkip! Mud, mud, kip!"

"I think that's an 'absolutely not'," observed Wally.

"It's better than 'Flip'," I said smugly. "I think it's perfect. Don't you, Muu?"

"MUUDKIIIIIIIIIP!"

I grinned delightedly. "Okay! Muu it is!"

"Muu…" pouted Mudkip, and then froze in horror as he realized what he'd said. Wally burst into laughter, which quickly degenerated into coughs. We stopped and waited for him to catch his breath.

"So that's why you chose 'Muu'," he wheezed. I slung his arm around my shoulders companionably. "I like it."

"Thanks," I said, hiding my concern behind a grin. Wally was having trouble breathing.

"D…d…" he coughed, "wh-what's your number?"

"Number?" I echoed.

"Ph-phone…number. So maybe I, uh, c-c-could c-call you? Sometimes?" Wally turned red. "Not, uh, you know…"

I nodded. "Sure. Except, I don't have a cell phone or anything, so, I don't have a number. What's yours? I can call you when I reach a new city using the videophone in the Pokémon Center."

"Okay," he rasped. "I…it's at the house. I'm moving, so I don't know the new number."

"I'll go there so you can write it down for me," I said confidently. Wally leaned on me heavily, huffing.

"Thanks."

Wally guided me to the Pokémon Center, insisting on going there first. We handed in Muu and both our ralts, and Petalburg's Nurse Joy fetched some medicine for Wally. It helped him a lot, and by the time our Pokémon were healed, he was back to normal. We were walking to his house when he turned to me and confessed, "The gym's right next door. If you want, you can wait over here out of sight while I get the number."

I wanted to. I kinda did. But it wasn't like Norman was going to be peering out his window; more likely, he was lurking on the exit from Petalburg, waiting to trounce me as I passed by. So I told him where to shove it and followed him into his house. I noticed his parents weren't home, which was good for laying low. Wally sat me down in the kitchen, handed me an apple and handed Muu pudding (no fair!) with the order to eat, and then set about hunting down the phone number.

I was dutifully chewing on my apple when the doorbell rang. Unlike Littleroot, every house had doorbells, as well as dishwashers. Lucky. If I got caught, I had the feeling I was going to be doing dishes for the rest of my life at home.

Anyway, as I stood to get the door (it was probably his neighbor asking for sugar or flour or something) Wally appeared, shooing me frantically towards a closet and shutting Muu and me in. When I heard the voice of the visitor, my blood froze, and I was _extremely_ glad I hadn't gotten the door.

It _figures_ my father would choose the exact time I happen to be at Wally's to drop by for a chat; he's got an uncanny instinct for stuff like this.

"Mr. Norman," said Wally nervously, "I-I was-wasn't expecting you."

"I was simply stopping in to check on you, and make sure your move to Verdanturf is going smoothly," Norman said. "Is it? You seem rather pale…and nervous."

"Y-yeah, it-it's fine," laughed Wally, high-pitched. "I-I just had a minor fit a few minutes ago, s-s-s-so I'm re-recovering."

"I see," Norman murmured. "It seems the sooner the better, then. Verdanturf is a beautiful place; you will feel at ease there." His tone changed. "I heard you were looking for me at my gym earlier; why?

"I-it's nothing, I-I just w-wanted to s-see if you c-could len-lend me a Pokémon to cat-catch one f-for myself with. It's al-alright though, beca-because a trainer on R-Route 102 helped me out."

"Good," Norman said. "A Pokémon will also be good for you, so long as you don't overexert yourself too much."

"I wo-won't."

"Would you like me to get Mrs. McGill? If you're still this stricken after an attack, you shouldn't be alone. I'd stay myself, but I'm about to head out to Route 104."

_I KNEW IT! HE'S AFTER ME!_

"R-R-R-Route o-one o-oh f-f-f-f-four?" squeaked Wally, horrified. He knew Route 104 was the exit I'd have to take to get out.

"Yes," Norman said vaguely. "I'm expecting to meet my daughter there. She's around your age."

I paled. I'm sure Wally paled much worse, because honest concern leaked through Norman's tone, "You don't look well. Sit, sit. I'll send my linoone for Mrs. McGill."

"Ah-ah-uh, act-actu-ally, can you go get her, and tell her to bring the stuff I've left over there?" Wally said, a bit desperately. If Norman caught on, he must've thought it was Wally's longing for whatever he'd left over there. "Sh-she'll n-n-need help-p ge-getting it o-over h-here, and y-you and your-your Pokémon c-c-can help."

"I'll leave my linoone here, at least. Where's your…ah, there it is. Now, sit there and _relax_. I'll be over with Mrs. McGill in no time."

"Y-yes sir."

There was a sound footsteps, and Norman passed by my closet. My heart thundered. The front door opened, and then shut.

Wally yanked the closet door open, eyes wide. "You needta leave! Here! The-the ph-phone number! A-and a map! I'll be there in a couple days, so don't call till Friday!" He staggered over to the door, looking out, "He's not in sight anymore. Go! B-be c-c-careful!"

"Okay," I said hurriedly, "Bye Wally. Thank you!"

As I hurried down the hall, I saw Linoone's shrewd eyes upon me, and felt a shiver of unease pass through me. Not good news, though hopefully Norman wouldn't realize…wouldn't understand…

I tore west towards Route 104, Muu hot on my heels. Even when I passed Petalburg's city limits, I kept running, grass tickling my ankles. I'd never run this fast before, and I scooped up Muu, who couldn't keep pace. I only stopped when I reached a beach, and which I point I threw myself carelessly into the sand, breathing as hard as Wally after his fit. Muu nudged my face affectionately and worriedly, and I reached out to stroke him. He gave a sigh as I scratched _just_ the spot. I chuckled.

Eventually, Muu ran off to play in the waves. He hadn't gotten much of a chance this morning when we were on Route 103; we'd been too focused on training.

I heard the footsteps, and I craned my head to see an old man staring down at me.

"Y'all right, lad?"

"Mm-hm. Just taking a break."

The old man gave a strange look, and then shrugged. "Come 'ere, Peeko. To Rustboro we go!"

"Whinn!" A Pokémon I'd never seen fluttered to land on his shoulder. It was some sort of bird Pokémon, white with a light blue stripe on each wing.

I couldn't help but laugh to myself after he'd left. There were still so many Pokémon to see! I hauled myself up, and pulled out the now-crumpled (and slightly ripped) map Wally had thrust at me with his phone number. The map was faded and dated ten years ago, but I figured it'd be good enough. "Ahh…Petalburg, there. Huh, there's no Littleroot…anyway! So, Petalburg Woods is north…hm…is there any way to avoid that? It looks troublesome…"

Unless I wanted to swim, Petalburg Woods was the only way to go. I sighed to myself, and rubbed my temple, feeling relieved I'd healed my Pokémon first. Speaking of multiple Pokémon… I let out Ralts. "Do you want a nickname too? 'Cause I'd need to think on it…"

Ralts nodded.

"Okay. You're a guy, like Muu, right?"

He nodded again.

"Alright. I'll train you up so you learn Confusion, too. Muu! Let's teach Ralts Confusion!"

I was about to head up the stairs when a boy ran up to me. "Battle!"

"Double?" I asked hopefully, and he blinked.

"What's a double battle?"

I explained to him, and we had one. He had a seedot, which only knew Bide, and a taillow. Even though he lost, I had a feeling the double battle had sparked his imagination, and the next battle he had would be a double as well.

I headed north, where a well-dressed guy confronted me, boasting, "I'm very rich."

He had only a zigzagoon, which I beat with Muu, and he paid me handsomely.

"You might not want to open a conversation with 'I'm rich,'" I advised him. "It sounds arrogant, and might prompt some people to try and rob you."

He looked rather incredulous, then impressed, and paid me some more. I also told him his clothes said this as well, but he didn't pay me for that, so I continued on in the shadowy Petalburg Woods.

_It can't possibly be worse than Petalburg itself,_ I reasoned. None of this forest's guardians could be scarier than Petalburg's.

A bug catcher refused to double battle me, so I switched ralts in and out. Another bug catcher and five wild Pokémon (three zigzagoon, cascoon, and a silcoon) and Ralts learned Confusion. After that, I beat the trainers using only Ralts.

The trainers I'd encountered were all bug catchers; so when I saw the well-dressed man, I stopped to stare at him in bemusement. Ralts was out with me, and Muu was in his pokeball, enjoying a break. He saw me as well, and walked quickly over.

"Excuse me, but you have seen a shroomish here?" he asked me hopefully.

I shook my head, "No, I haven't. Why? You want one?"

He nodded, grinning like a child. "I love shroomish. They're rather rare, so I'd come here to try and see one. They're found only here."

"Wow," I remarked. It suddenly occurred to me that if they're so rare, I should catch one for Birch. Should I catch a zigzagoon, wurmple, cascoon, silcoon, and poochyena for him too?

_That's…going to take a lot of pokeballs. Which means it's gonna cost a _lot.

I frowned. Well, zigzagoon, wurmple, cascoon, silcoon, and poochyena were common and easy to find. If I couldn't catch every Pokémon I came across, it'd be better if I caught the rarer ones. Like shroomish, apparently.

A man burst from behind some trees, swearing loudly. Both the guy and me stared at him. He wore a blue bandanna—reminding me I still had mine stuffed in a pocket somewhere—and a black-and-white striped shirt with blue pants with the letter A made of bones as a symbol along the sides. He was unshaven and tall, and when he glared at us, it was frightening.

"There you are, blast you! I've been chasing you for so fucking"—the well-dressed man flinched from the vehemence of the swear word—"long! Hand over the papers, or else I'll show you the might of Team Aqua!"

"Eek!" The kind man jumped behind me. "Y-you're a trainer, right? Help me!"

The criminal sneered down at me. "A kid? Well, I'm in a mood, so I'll give you a thrashing you'll never forget! Poochyena, Tackle!"

His dark dog barreled out of his pokeball as it was thrown, charging Ralts. "Ralts, dodge!" Ralts barely succeeded. "Confusion!" Ralts's eyes glowed, but nothing happened to Poochyena.

"Tackle!"

Poochyena collided roughly with Ralts, causing him to cry out in pain, and slammed Ralts to the ground. My mind spun. Why didn't Confusion do anything?

_Poochyena's a dark-type,_ I realized suddenly. _Psychic moves don't do anything to it! Ralts is _helpless_ against this foe!_

"Ralts, return!" I screamed before Poochyena could hurt him worse. "_On guard! _Muu, _kill this guy!_ WATER GUN!"

Water Gun was a clean hit, and Poochyena staggered.

"AGAIN!"

"Dodge!" yelled the man furiously, but Water Gun smashed Poochyena into a tree, unconscious. He angrily returned it.

"You _scumbag_," I seethed, advancing on him. Muu bristled warily beside me.

"Brat, who do you think you are?" he snarled, and his huge hand closed around my wrist, yanking me violently towards him. "I'll teach you what it means to mess with me—"

An eerie howl shattered the forest. Muu tackled me to the ground just in time, and there was a great scream from the man. I twisted around and saw a wild poochyena hanging off his wrist, blood pouring down, and suddenly my anger was gone.

Shouting incoherently, the man flung off the poochyena and ran. The poochyena shook herself off, blood spattering nearby leaves, and took off in livid pursuit.

"God," I heard the man say, stunned. "Was that a rabid poochyena…?"

No, she had been perfectly in control of her faculties, I thought suddenly. There was the light of rage but not in madness when I saw her. She'd also chosen to attack the criminal and not us, even when we were closer or more helpless targets (read: well-dressed unarmed man wandering in Pokémon-filled woods; he must smell weak or something).

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

I nodded, getting to my feet and self-consciously brushing off any leaves or dirt to avoid saying anything more.

"You saved me from that scoundrel," the man said, sounding slightly awed. "Here, take this great ball."

I accepted it without protest. "What was he after?"

"Oh. I work for the Devon Corporation, and I've got some important papers on me…"

I felt like banging my head against a tree. He had important stuff on him, and he was doing the aforementioned idiocy? "Maybe you should turn those in, or stash them in a safe place?" I suggested through gritted teeth.

He waved a negligent hand. "He's gone now; it's fine. I still haven't seen a shroomish…"

I could feel a headache coming on. "Okay. Just…okay. Bye. I'm heading to a Pokémon Center. Did you come from Rustboro?"

"Yes, I did. Why?"

"How close am I to the exit?" I asked tiredly, wondering if Petalburg or its Woods had been worse. Geez, I should never tempt fate.

The man looked sheepish. "…I'm not sure. I've wandered in circles a lot, so it's hard to make an accurate guess…"

"Okay," I groaned. "Bye."

"Ah, wait! You haven't told me your name!" he yelled, slightly desperate.

"You haven't told me yours," I shot back, starting to move away.

"I'm Daven Jones!"

"Sapph," I called, and plowed my through a bush, grimacing as I pulled through. Completely uninterested in anything except getting Ralts to a Pokémon Center, I turned down offers of battles and ran from wild Pokémon. There were only two exceptions.

I found a mushroom Pokémon blocking my path, a stubborn look on his dumb face. He wouldn't let me pass. I groaned and pulled out my PokéDex, intent on finding out what his problem was.

"Shroomish," hey, that sounded familiar…hadn't the stupid Devon guy wanted one? "The Mushroom Pokémon. It loves to eat damp, composted coil in forests. If you enter a forest after a long rain, you can see many shroomish feasting on composted soil."

"Idiot," I said irritably. "Why didn't you just come here after a storm?" Recalling it was rare, I set Muu on it, Mud-Slap and Water Gun whittling away its health until I tossed a pokéball at him and he stayed. I picked up the Pokémon. Now I had another to heal.

A noise caught my attention, and I turned. A lazy monkey-like Pokémon was snoring on the ground. Probably awoken by my battle against Shroomish, whom I spontaneously nicknamed Mishroo, the Pokémon I knew as slakoth stretched. Norman had one of those.

Suddenly in a very unforgiving mood, I had Muu attack her mercilessly with Water Gun. Slakoth fainted.

Finally I emerged, newly scratched and with bug bites, on the other side of Petalburg Woods. I could already see Rustboro's tall buildings stretching towards the night sky across a small lake.

"Finally," I groaned, running past a lady in a green dress (who wrinkled her nose at my filthy state), across a bridge (where I nearly knocked a pair of twins into the water) and into the city, where I promptly found myself completely lost.

Rustboro was entirely unlike the Hoenn cities I'd visited so far. It reminded me of a much smaller Goldenrod, with the orangish stone the sidewalk was made of and its tall buildings, as well as the hustle and bustle of people and general noise. It made me realize how _quiet_ Littleroot and Oldale and (for the brief time I'd spent in it) Petalburg were.

I relaxed, breathing the city air. In a place like this, I was _safe_. No one would notice the coming and going of one person here; Rustboro seemed like a place that everyone in Hoenn had business in. Yes, a teenage boy would only be noticed as beating a gym.

_Just watch me, Dad. I'm going to get every badge, including yours. I'm going to prove you wrong._

I forced my hand to loosen its grip on the hem of my jacket, and approached a middle-aged woman to ask politely for directions to the Pokémon Center. Ralts was healed up quickly, and I apologized over and over for failing him, and I made sure to treat him to some of my peach cobbler. Muu sulked under the table, mumbling his namesake until I relented and shared with him, too. Between them, I didn't get to eat much of it.

A Nurse Joy gave me medicine for my headache. That night, I slept like a log.

* * *

Met Wally, made a plan, caught Ralts, avoided Norman, and reached Rustboro!

Please, review!

—xxsapphireheartxx


	3. Chapter 3: Morose Mishroo, Moody Muu

Heroes of Hoenn

_Red, Gold, and now me—Steven says it's fate. I have to disagree. It's terrible, terrible, good luck. [Based on RSE]_

Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me, nor do its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Morose Mishroo, Moody Muu**

* * *

Rustboro, I decided, was ideal for me to train in. There were many beginning trainers here for me to battle with, a gym for me to test myself against when I was ready, and tons of people to blend in with. I had a comfortable Pokémon Center room all to myself and my Pokémon, and my neighbors were considerate after I all but knocked down their door and shook them both by the collars of their shirts for playing loud rock music at two o'clock in the morning. Muu had befriended a marill, and Ralts an abra. I trusted their trainers enough to let them babysit Muu and Ralts, though I didn't ask either for input on Ralts's nickname.

Mishroo glowered at me when I let him out, and refused to really cooperate or socialize with Muu, Ralts, or myself. Even during mealtimes he kept himself separate from us, and glared threateningly if any of us approached him. I decided I'd train Ralts, and maybe in the meantime Mishroo could warm up to me enough that he wouldn't shake off spores when I picked him up.

Rustboro had better-stocked marts and shops than any of the towns I'd been in so far. I dithered, trying to figure out if I wanted to buy a watch (no, better save up), and I drooled over the Pokémon Navigators. It was the sort of thing Wally had mentioned—state-of-the-art technology, it functioned like a GPS, telling you exactly where you were and a detailed map of Hoenn (sometimes it could project to make a 3D map, but those were super, SUPER expensive). It also was a compass, a cell phone, a clock, and kept track of some previously fought trainers. It seemed like PokéGear back home, except slightly less awesome.

Part of its allure was that, unlike Pokémon Center videophones, the receiver of the call doesn't know where you are, meaning I could contact my mom or Birch if I wanted to. (Mom had made me memorize her cell phone number, and Birch's lab should be listed somewhere.)

I battled as many trainers as I could convince to, which was a lot. I was earning money and training at the same time. Time seemed to fly, and I almost forgot to call Wally on Friday. I'd moved from Johto and ran away on Tuesday, battled Brendan, met Wally, and arrived in Rustboro on Wednesday. I slept past ten o'clock on Thursday, and spent the rest of the day training, and yelled at my neighbors early Friday morning. It was only during a late dinner on that day that I'd remembered to call Wally, and it had taken me ten minutes of searching before I found his number (now stained with something, not sure what).

I had used the videophone, and after several rings, a young woman picked up. "Hello," I said nervously, "I'm looking for Wally?"

She looked me over before dismissing me. Leaning out of the screen, "WALLY! PHONE!" A moment passed, and she added, "He'll be right on. Who're you?"

"A friend of his," I answered.

Wally burst into the screen. "There you are, Sapph! I've been waiting all day!" he exclaimed. "Well, not _all_ day," he amended. "Where are you?"

"Hey," I grinned. "I'm in Rustboro. How've you been?"

"Rustboro?" said Wally. "That's really near here!"

I brightened. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. But…the land's impassable; the only path is a tunnel that collapsed," he said, slightly disappointed.

"Hold on," I grunted, checking my pockets. "Darn. I don't have my map on me. Thanks for that, by the way—it's going to be really useful for judging distances. And you haven't answered my question: How're you? Settling in well? How's Ralts?" Wally was still uncommonly pale, but not as pale as he'd been when I'd last seen him. His green hair was wilted, and I wondered if he were healthier if it would spike.

"I'm good. I like Verdanturf," he said. "There're flowers and stuff everywhere, and everyone's very kind to me. Ralts is enjoying herself, too—she has this content feel about her. What about yours?"

I grinned proudly. "He's getting strong; not a strong as Muu, but commendable. What do you think I should nickname him?"

"What am I, your official nickname-helper?" he demanded teasingly.

"Yeah," I said seriously, "You are. You're the only one I trust enough. So what do you suggest?"

Wally had flushed in pleasure when I'd praised him, and now stuttered, "U-um…maybe…Ral?"

"Nah," I said, "Something more than that."

"Stral? Ralph?"

"Hm…" I said thoughtfully. "I do like the 'ral' in it."

"H-how about…Ralo? Ralon?" Wally's brow was furrowed in thought, and I felt an unexpected affection for how earnestly he took to his job.

"Ralon," I said, "Sounds good. Lemme ask." I let Ralts out of his pokéball, and scooped him up. "Whaddya think? Ralon?" Ralts looked at me contemplatively, and then waved to Wally. I gave his helmet-like head a noogie. "Ralon?"

Ralts nodded gravely.

Wally smiled, delighted. "Ralon it is!"

"What about your ralts? What's her nickname?" I asked, keeping Ralon out. Maybe he could somehow tune in to the videophone and have a psychic conversation with Wally's ralts.

"I haven't decided yet," admitted Wally shyly. "Can you help?"

"Of course!" I laughed, "Just say the word and I'll help! How about Rari? Or Rala? Ralan? Or…Ralva!"

"Whoa, slow down! Let me release her…" Wally pulled out a pokéball and let her out. Her eyes hidden beneath the rim of her helmet, she stared at the screen. Ralon waved. She waved back. "Um, Sapph's suggested Rari, Ralan, uh…"

"Rala, and Ralva," I repeated.

She pondered, and shook her head. She was comfortably nestled in Wally's arms, and still looked to be about level six.

"Ralvari? Ralari?" wondered Wally, and Ralts tugged on his arm. "Ralari? How about Ralari, Sapph?"

"Raaaaaa…" agreed Ralts, and Ralon nodded a stately agreement.

I shook my head ruefully. "You're too good at this," I told Wally.

Again, he flushed at the compliment. "N-not really, y-you gave me the idea…"

"So, Ralon and Ralari. We could have a battle next time we meet," I suggested, brightening. "It would be fun!"

"You'd beat us. Resoundingly," protested Wally, his hold on Ralari tightening protectively.

"Where's your faith in your Pokémon?" I demanded. "If you train hard and believe in each other, and yourself, I'm sure you can give us a licking!"

"Licking?" repeated Wally, bemused.

I waved it off. "Defeat us."

"Where's your faith?" he shot back at me.

I grinned at him. "It's currently with you two, but I'll have to take it back soon. Muu will sulk if I don't."

"How is Muu?" inquired Wally, his pale eyes interested. "He must be close to evolution."

I stood stock still, mouth hanging open. "Evo…lution? Muu's gonna evolve?"

Wally seemed confused. "Yeah…I think so…"

"I didn't know he evolved," I said blankly. "D…do ralts evolve too? Are Ralon and Ralari gonna?"

"I'm not sure. But it'd be pretty cool if they did, right?"

"Definitely!" I agreed fervently. I shifted Ralon. "Hear that, little guy? You gonna evolve?"

"Allllllll…ts. Ralts?"

"Well, we'll see," I conceded.

"There's a gym in Rustboro, right?" asked Wally. I nodded in confirmation. "Are you going to challenge it?"

"Yeah, but only when we're ready." Seeing his strange expression, I asked, "What?"

He shook his head. "It's just, it feels like you're always in a hurry. You're always aware of some sort of time limit on you, and tell yourself to speed up. It's a bit different to see you slow down instead." Wally smiled tentatively. "It's good, though. You only got Ralon and Muu a couple days ago."

"Yeah," I agreed. "With so many people, Rustboro's a good place. It's really relieving to be here, since I was raised in a city, anyway." I grinned suddenly. "Muu and Ralon aren't sure what to make of it! They've never been somewhere with so many people!"

"I'll bet," said Wally. "I've never been, either."

I nodded in understanding. Rustboro wasn't really a place for the sick, unless they were in its hospital.

"Verdanturf's other neighboring city, Mauville, is pretty big, too," mentioned Wally. "There's a gym there as well."

"Great," I said happily. "Maybe you could watch my gym battle…?"

Wally's face lit up. "Cool! I'd love to!" Suddenly his head turned, and then he looked back at me sheepishly. "I've gotta go, Sapph. Make sure to call tomorrow!"

"I will," I promised, and we hung up.

I called him every evening, describing my training, and listening to his halting tales of his own ventures into battling. I made sure to strongly encourage him. When I mentioned Mishroo to him, he had some suggestions, but none seemed to work. Mishroo hated me with an adamant passion I didn't understand, and I kept him in his pokéball because he picked fights with Muu and Ralon if I let him out. I had tried letting him out alone in my room, when it was just me and him, but he always ignored me and tried to Tackle down the door. I drew the line when he used Absorb on me, and returned him.

I looked over my Pokémon care notes, and also visited the Pokémon Trainer's School, where a teacher there gave a Quick Claw: an item to occasionally allow my Pokémon to move faster. None of them had answers for my dilemma. While I was out and about in Rustboro, I also scouted out the gym. The leader there was a woman named Roxanne, and she trained rock-types. That was good news, as Muu had the advantage over them. When I was there once, Ralon at my side, a young man approached.

"That's a ralts. I've always wanted one of those! Do you wanna trade, your ralts for my seedot?" he offered. "Dots is a grass-type, and so can be a ton of help against Roxanne!

I turned him down without hesitation and he frowned at me.

"When you lose to Roxanne, you can always come back and change your mind. I'm Kobe; I live next door." He jerked this thumb at the building next to the gym, and slouched off, giving Ralon a covetous look.

Ralon was out of his pokéball often. I was training him to try and catch up with Muu, who had recently learned Bide. Muu was acting differently, strangely tetchy, and Water Gunned me when I'd tried to pick him up the other day.

Realizing Muu was probably jealous of the time I was spending with Ralon, I decided to train Muu a bit more, heading south towards Petalburg Woods. I'd only entered the woods a few times since my first time, but I figured the plentiful Pokémon would make good targets for Muu. Plus, there was a nice flower shop nearby we could take a rest in when we finished in the woods.

Rather than seeming pleased with the numerous opponents that forced us to be on our guard, Muu seemed darkly frustrated by the lack of quality, and I called an early end, heading for the flower shop. On our way out of the woods we saved a boy from a wild shroomish, and he gave me a TM, Bullet Seed, in thanks. I stuffed it into a pocket and followed Muu to the flower shop.

"Welcome," called a young lady, and the others looked up. They were gathered about a table and seemed to be on break, eating a midmorning snack or brunch.

"Am I interrupting something?" I asked, noticing a man in a business suit sitting at their table.

"No, no," a brunette woman with a lily tucked behind her ear assured me. "We're just catching up with a friend of ours." She smiled at the man, who returned it sheepishly. It was a cute expression on his face.

"I wouldn't want to keep you from your customer," he said, moving to rise.

"Ah, it's okay. I just saw this place and was curious." I looked around, realizing Muu had managed to make himself scarce. "Me and Muu, my mudkip, came in, but I seem to have lost him…?"

There was a crash and squeal of childish laughter. "Whoops," I said hurriedly, rushing over to the source. A girl of eight or seven was giggling at Muu, who had accidently knocked over a flowerpot. It had fallen on his head and sat there crookedly. Muu looked disbelieving underneath all the soil that had spilled out.

I let out a huff of laughter. "Look what you've gotten yourself into." I reached to remove the pot, but Muu jerked away, shaking it off violently. It smashed against the wall.

"Muu!" I said, outraged. "You just broke their pot! Apologize!" I began searching for money to pay for it. Glancing over at the adults, I said, "I'm sorry. How much is it?"

"1000," she said, and I pulled the appropriate sum out, giving it to her. I looked back at Muu, who was skulking underneath a table.

"He's been in a foul mood lately. I thought it was because I caught another Pokémon and have been training him, but…" I trailed off, lost for an answer.

I jerked in surprise when the man crouched beside me, saying, "It's probably because he's close to evolution. Some Pokémon can get irrational about that time." He looked at Muu critically.

"So Muu _does_ evolve! I wasn't sure if he did."

The man murmured something, holding out a hand to Muu. After several moments, Muu crawled out to nudge his palm. I watched in mute surprise as the man lifted Muu, touching him gingerly as he examined him. "Definitely," he concluded. "It'll blow over once he evolves." He smiled slightly at me, and that smile fit his face, too.

"That's Steven for you," said the lily-woman. "He's practically a Pokémon professor, he knows so much about them!" The other lady agreed.

"Can I hold him?" piped up the girl.

The man, Steven, said, "I'm sorry, I don't think so…he's very touchy at this stage."

"Okay," the girl sighed forlornly.

When he met my eyes again, I said, "I'm Sapph. Thanks."

"It's no problem," he told me, putting Muu down, who immediately ran towards a plant on the ground to stare at it intensely. The plant had a flower with a middle that reminded me of an eye. "As you've heard," a wry smile, "I'm Steven."

"You seem like a really experienced trainer," I told him. "I'm just starting out."

"Going to challenge Roxanne?" he asked, standing with a small groan.

"Yeah," I said, following his lead. "I'm not sure if I'm ready, though. I think I want to get Muu sorted out beforehand. How can I get Muu to evolve?"

"Battling. Especially competitive battling, like against trainers," said Steven. "If you fought Roxanne right now, I think Muu would evolve during the battle."

I demurred, "I wanna train Ralon some more first. And I'd definitely be more comfortable with Muu evolved before the battle."

"Alright," Steven said, not pressing the point. "Preparation is good. How much do you know about Roxanne?"

"She's a rock-type trainer. And boasts about being an honors student. So, she's probably strategically sound, and likes to stand her ground." I snorted. "That rhymed."

"You should be a poet," said Steven dryly.

"Hm…" I thought for a moment. "The choice is a no-brainer, I'll stick to trainer!"

Steven cracked a grin and the flower women laughed. I myself was grinning in a very self-satisfied way.

"Anyway," I said, remembering Muu, and I turned to see him still engaged in a staring contest with the plant, "I'm gonna train with Muu. C'mon, Muu, let's find some trainers to face!"

Muu reluctantly dragged himself away from the plant.

"Thanks for your advice," I told Steven. "I'll put it to good use and beat Roxanne for sure!"

Steven nodded seriously. "Do you intend to challenge the other gyms?"

"I'm gonna beat them all."

"Good luck, then. Maybe we'll battle someday." Steven also seemed ready to leave. We waved goodbye to the shop owners, who fussed over Steven for a few more moments, before letting us go. I'd already battled the trainers here (a lady named Cindy, and a teenager around my age named Haley). I turned left, heading for Rustboro. There were probably some trainers on that route—whatever it was called…uh…106? No… Well, anyway.

I glanced back at Steven. "You wanna come? I'm heading to that route east of Rustboro that ends in Rusturf tunnel. Since you told me about the evolution, you've earned the right to see it, if you want. If you're not in a hurry or anything…"

Steven thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "Very well," he agreed. We were walking across the bridge when two young girls, who'd been dipping their toes in the water, scrambled up.

"We challenge you to a double battle!" they cried in synchrony. I looked at Steven, who grinned.

"You wanted a battle, right?" he asked me and I nodded.

"If you want, you can fight, too. Otherwise, I have two Pokémon with me," I offered.

"I'd rather watch you fight," he told me, and immediately I felt self-conscious. It'd be _so_ embarrassing if I lost this…

"Alright. Muu, Ralon, on guard!" I called, releasing Ralon. Catching on to my mood, Ralon was completely still, tense and ready for a battle I really didn't want to lose. Muu rumbled intimidatingly at them, but not an actual Growl.

"Lotad!"

"Seedot!"

My eyes narrowed. I'd fought seedot before, but not a lotad. I pulled out my handy-dandy PokeDex, vaguely noticing Steven's surprised look but paying it no heed.

"Lotad, the Water Weed Pokémon." It was awfully cute for a weed, though. I was expecting to be the 'Lily Pad' Pokémon or something. "This Pokémon lives in ponds with clean water. it is known to ferry small Pokémon across ponds by carrying them on the broad leaf on its head."

It was a dual water/grass Pokémon, I noticed. Unusual. It also meant Muu's best move against it was Tackle; perhaps Ralon should take care of it. In fact, this was a battle slanted against Muu, as Seedot was a grass-type Pokémon.

"Lotad, run forward and use Astonish on Ralts!" cried one twin.

"Confusion," I called.

"Seedot, cover her with Harden!"

Seedot leapt in front of Lotad, using Harden and taking the Confusion attack. Some part of me relaxed slightly, while another groaned in disappointment. These two clearly didn't know the difference between defense and special defense.

"Double Team. Tackle!"

Lotad's attack, which consisted of a shout emanating red energy glowing around Lotad, passed harmlessly through a copy and Muu Tackled her to the ground.

"Now use Confusion on Lotad, and Water Gun on Seedot!"

"Bide!"

Eyes glowing beneath the rim of his helmet, Ralon's attack hit Lotad squarely, causing her to cry out. Muu's Water Gun knocked the humming Seedot over.

I was faced with two choices: concentrate on taking out Lotad while Seedot was stuck in Bide, or try to knock out Seedot and deal with the super damage if I failed. She had been hit by a Water Gun since initiating Bide. I chose a third path.

"Muu, defend Ralon: Bide. Ralon, Confusion on Lotad."

Muu readied himself, and Ralon finished off Lotad, whom was returned. At that moment, Seedot unleashed her stored power as white light, which Muu bore the brunt of. When the light faded, Muu was still standing, and then Muu released his Bide, twice the power of Seedot's Bide. Seedot fainted.

I returned Ralon, running over to Muu to see if he was alright. He shook me off irritably, and I belatedly remembered I was trying to get him to evolve. I fished a potion out of my backpack, using it on him, and he seemed better.

"You're very good," said one twin.

"Incredibly impressive," declared the other, and they handed me 192 pokédollars. Steven, who'd been standing behind me down the bridge, approached me with a congratulations.

"It was well-fought," he told us, making all of us blush, the twins more than me, and then he and I continued towards Rustboro, during which he asked me if I wanted an analysis of what I could've done better.

I shrugged, "Sure."

"You failed to use your surroundings to your advantage," he informed me. "You were on a narrow bridge in a lake with a water-type and a psychic-type, and the way you fought the battle could've been done anywhere. If you'd played your cards right, you wouldn't have had to take a Bide.

"Though," he added charitably, "when placed in that situation, I liked your strategy of dealing with it, though it could've been a mortal mistake if Seedot had taken more damage from Water Gun."

"I knew Muu could take it," I said defensively and Muu glowered at Steven, displeased with his honest, blunt words.

"You seem more advanced that the usual fare of trainers around here," Steven said, and it was bewildering how he could be telling me my strategy sucked one moment and calling me advanced the next. "How long have you been a trainer?"

"What's the day?"

"…Tuesday, I believe."

"Exactly a week, then."

Steven suddenly stopped. I stopped a moment later, looking back at him in confusion. "A _week?_ You've been a trainer a _week?_"

"Well, sorry if I'm not super-skilled, full of wisdom, and with two badges from that time," I snapped, offended.

"No!" he said hastily. "I was shocked because you're astoundingly advanced for a week-old trainer. Did…did you get Muu a week ago?"

Warning bells rang in my head. How many people got a mudkip a week ago from Birch? May, that's who, and if Sapph also 'happened' to have a mudkip she'd gotten on the same day from the same person, when he only had one… "Yeah, I found him a week ago. That was what started this." I gestured around me, meaning the journey. Remembering what Birch had said about having the PokéDexes special-ordered, I added, "I'm borrowing a PokéDex from a friend."

Steven nodded, and offered, "I know someone who can order you a PokéDex of your own, if you want?"

I shook my head quickly. "Nah, I'm good. How many battles till you think Muu'll evolve?"

Steven frowned, and then said, "I have an idea. Since it's less about the number of battles and more about the intensity of them… How about we do a you and Muu versus Ralon and I? If it's alright with Ralon," he added.

I looked at him curiously. "Why Ralon? Don't you have Pokémon?"

Steven seemed embarrassed. "Well, yes, but, they're much higher-leveled than yours. Ralon would be a better match."

I let Ralon out, and he looked Steven over. I looked around. We were in a grass field between Rustboro and the lake; I could see a fisherman with only magikarp fishing diligently, as he had every day since I'd arrived here.

"Raaal," chimed Ralon, and we took that as agreement.

Steven and I spread apart, Ralon in front of Steven and Muu in front of me. "Ralon versus Muu: Go!"

"Water Gun!"

"Confusion."

Confusion dispersed the Water Gun and sent Muu flying. Muu got up, giving himself a woozy shake. "You all right?" I called, and Muu called, "Kiip!"

"Double Team," ordered Steven, and in a split-second Muu was surrounded.

If Muu weren't a mudkip, it would've been a good move. "Mud-Slap!"

Fin twitching, Muu whirled, hurling mud at Ralon. It hit and stuck, being the true Ralon.

"Water Gun!" I yelled, but Steven called, "Confusion, clean yourself off." At such a close range, it was simple for Ralon to take control of the Water Gun at redirect it at Muu, as well as the mud threatening its eyes. His psychic sense told him where Muu was.

Muu tumbled back, but jumped back to his feet—

"Tackle!"

—and ran at Ralon. His mass was too great for Ralon to directly control like he could with Water Gun and Mud-Slap, but he could only control those if he had enough time…hm…

"Teleport," said Steven as I called, "Water Gun." Muu whirled to face Ralon's new location, but Water Gun missed.

_Need to work on split-second accuracy,_ I noted to myself. Because of their senses—Muu's fin and Ralon's psychic-ness—their accuracy was usually impeccable.

Both Pokémon were worn; Ralon had landed more attacks, but Muu had more HP and greater defense and attack, so the moves he'd landed hit hard for Ralon.

"Confusion."

"Tackle!"

Muu charged at Ralon as he gathered psychic energy. Confusion and Tackle struck, Muu fighting against the invisible force pressing around his body, straining to stop him as he threw everything he had into his Tackle.

Muu lit with Confusion's light and I was torn between happiness that Ralon had advanced enough to halt Muu's Tackle and the desperate disappointment of…well, not disappointment. More like: oh CRAP as Muu lost the fight against Confusion, completely smothered in white light.

I heard Steven give a shout, but I didn't understand what, as with an explosive sound the light dimmed and a blue shape slammed into Ralon, who was too concentrated on Confusion to be able to Teleport or Double Team, knocking him to the ground.

"You did it!" called Steven, walking over. "Muu evolved into a marshtomp."

"Marshtomp?" I repeated, staring at Muu's new form. Only now did I sheepishly realize that the white light I'd seen hadn't been from Confusion; it'd been from his evolution!

Unlike his quadrupedal form before, Muu now stood on two legs at a height less than a meter. He was a greener blue than before, and had oval orange eyes. His triple-spike cheek protrusions had changed to a single spike, and his belly was orange. His three darker fins were an unsaturated dark blue, one fin on the back of each thigh and one on his head. His arms were also fins, but the green-blue color. His throat was a lighter, vulnerable color.

"Awesome," I said and pulled out my PokéDex.

"Its toughened hind legs enable it to stand upright. Because it weakens if its skin dries out, it replenishes fluids by playing in mud." I carefully stored that fact in my head. Not a good idea to have prolonged battles in hot, sunny weather, maybe?

"This is amazing. _You're_ amazing," I told Muu. "YES!" I tackled him, hugging him tightly as I laughed in delight. Muu made strange noises in my ear, "Marr…toomp tomp maaa…" Listening to him, even the revelation he couldn't make his adorable "muu" anymore didn't damp my mood. I pulled back, grinning so wide I thought my face would split.

I turned to Steven, who seemed slightly flustered at my obvious joy. "Thank you, thank you, _thanks!_ If there's ever anything I can do for you, other than murder and stuff…" I said breathlessly.

He cleared his throat. "Ah, no, no. It was nothing. Just…nothing. I'm glad Muu evolved, but I really should get going…"

"Oh," I said, realizing Steven probably had important things going on I was keeping him from, "oh, right. Sorry…"

"Don't be sorry," he said. "I had fun." Looking at his suit, I had a feeling it wasn't something he honestly had often, much less admitted it. "Beat the gyms and maybe we'll meet again."

I grinned toothily at him, Muu at my side. Even Ralon had come over to say goodbye, though he was noticeably worse for the wear. "Don't worry about that; I'm definitely doing it. Thanks again."

Steven pulled out a pokéball and unleashed a bird Pokémon with metal wings, and he swung himself onto her. "Take care of yourself," he called, and the Pokémon, with a wordless screech and flap of her wings, launched herself into the air. Winds whipped about Muu, Ralon, and me, forcing me to close my eyes and squint against the dirt and dust. It wasn't until a while later at the Pokémon Center that I realized I hadn't asked Steven about Mishroo. What if he had had a ready solution? What…what if Mishroo was close to evolution, too?

I looked up shroomish on my PokéDex. Shroomish evolved at level twenty-three; Mishroo was at level nine. So, no, that wasn't the problem. But since I'd gotten Ralon up to scratch, it was time to work with Mishroo.

…But first I'd challenge the gym. Steven seemed to think I was ready for it already, so I'd give it a go as soon as Ralon and Muu finished healing. Or maybe I should explore Route…whatever that route is…first?

_I'm too impatient_, I thought ruefully to myself, accepting Ralon and Muu's pokéballs and heading for the gym._ If I lose, I can do some training on whatever-the-route-is_.

I entered the gym building and a dragon-like statue's voice startled me. "Welcome to Rustboro Gym. Our gym leader is Roxanne, the Rock-Solid Honors Student. In order to challenge Leader Roxanne, you must find your way through the maze to her."

"Okay," I agreed and entered the maze. I wandered and fought two trainers in there, both with geodudes. I wasn't sure if it was their job to be there or if they were also challengers. Either way, I found Roxanne. She sat at the other end of a craggy, rock-filled battlefield, reading a book. She looked up from her book when I spoke.

Shoving my hands in my pockets, I breathed deeply and said, "I'm here to challenge you."

She marked her page, and rose. There was a referee ready at the sidelines. He announced, "This will be a two-on-two battle. The challenger is allowed substitutions; the gym leader is not. Begin!"

"Ralon, _on guard!_"

"Geodude, go. Start things off with Rock Throw."

"Double Team."

Geodude lifted a rock easily twice her size and threw it at Ralon, but it passed through a copy.

"Confusion!"

"Dodge, and use Rock Polish."

I had realized early on that there was little someone could do against a raw Confusion attack, and so Confusion hit despite Geodude moving erratically. The light glowed around Geodude and threw her against a nearby boulder. Geodude was tough, but her special defense was poorer than I was expecting. Despite the double-advantage Muu had over her, Ralon had been the right choice: special attack was his highest stat.

Geodude glowed white and I wracked my mind for what Rock Polish did. Wasn't it some sort of stat move?

"Now, Rock Tomb!" called Roxanne, and with incredible speed, rocks sprouted from the ground, slamming into Ralon and knocking him flat before I could react. Ralon cried out in pain.

"Rock Throw!"

"Confusion," I called, but the rocks pounded into Ralon. _What? Ralon had time to react…oh. Rock Tomb lowered his speed. I'll just make him harder to hit, then._ "Double Team!"

"Rock Tomb!"

I'd given my command enough in advance that Ralon pulled it off before Rock Tomb encircled one of his copies.

"Rock Throw all of them!"

"Dodge and use Double Team again!" I called as copies winked out as rocks passed through them. A new circle of Ralons surrounded Geodude, and then another circle as Ralon's evasiveness was raised significantly.

"Rock Polish," ordered Roxanne.

"Use Confusion!" I yelled, trying to think of a way to gain the advantage. Hm…Rock Throw and Rock Tomb were both physical attacks, right? "Growl!"

Geodude had barely managed to dodge Confusion, a feat in itself, and Ralon used the move he hadn't used for a long time: Growl. It was hard to tell exactly where the Growl was coming from, an effect of Ralon's evasiveness.

Roxanne's eyes narrowed; this wasn't working for her. She was about to switch strategies. "Rock Tomb the whole field!"

"Teleport to a rock!" I yelled.

Geodude let out a loud cry, slamming her fists into the ground. Spires of stone erupted from the ground, killing copies instantly. The field was a forest of rough columns of rock, but I hadn't heard Ralon scream, so I assumed he was conscious and fine. "Confusion!"

"Defend yourself with Rock Tomb!"

I could only assume that Confusion had failed, and I frowned. Geodude liked to disguise themselves as rocks, I remembered. The field had been rocky before, but there had been no rocks taller than myself then like there were now. "Use your psychic sense to locate Geodude. She's probably inside some rocky shield…use Teleport to get in, then Confusion!"

"Underground!" yelled Roxanne, but Geodude cried out. The referee craned his neck, searching for them, and then declared, "Geodude is unable to battle. Ralts is the winner!"

"Geodude, return. Nosepass, go!"

Grabbing my PokeDex, I caught a glimpse of the Pokémon, and pointed the 'Dex at it. "Nosepass, the Compass Pokémon. Its body emits a powerful magnetism. It feeds on prey that is pulled in by the force. Its magnetism is stronger in cold seasons."

It was summer right now, so the power of the magnetism wasn't at its strongest. Pulling out my pokéball, I returned Ralon and threw out Muu. "Muu, on guard."

The many rocks were extremely annoying and not just because they often blocked my view of the battle, I quickly found out.

"Muu, Water Gun!"

Nosepass was slow and bulky and so managed to survive Water Gun by hiding behind a nearby rock spire. It was like a game of hide-and-seek; Muu would fire a Water Gun or Mud-Slap at Nosepass, who would take cover or summon more rocks to block the attack with.

"Rock Tomb!"

"Marsh!" Muu yelled as he was trapped in rock. Fortunately, rock-type moves weren't very effective against him. Remembering that Mudkip's strength, noted in the PokeDex entry, I assumed Muu hadn't lost it and I called, "Throw them off, and then use Mud-Slap."

There were crashes as Muu bodily threw the rocks off him. I wondered if Muu could generate enough mud that it would hamper Nosepass's footing. Now that I thought of it, Nosepass didn't really have arms, like Torchic. If we could knock her over…but she was much steadier than Torchic had been…

_Well, let's see if Muu can knock Nosepass over._ "Get close, and Tackle!"

I more sensed than saw Roxanne's confusion stalling her response at the seemingly stupid move. Moving to my left, I saw Muu ram into Nosepass and only push her back a few centimeters.

"Rock Throw!"

"Break it!" I shouted, thinking of Muu breaking free of Rock Tomb. My spur-of-the-moment idea failed miserably as Muu, looking confused, swung a fin at an incoming boulder and was mashed up against a spire. I flinched and wouldn't've been surprised if Muu had broken a bone like that. Did Muu even have bones in his fins?

"Water Gun! Don't let her attack again!"

"Defend yourself!"

Muu let out a blast of water, which was blocked by a Rock Tomb enclosing Nosepass protectively. I grimaced in frustration. The only real entrance to that I could think of was underground, but Muu couldn't dig under there…

Muu was wriggling free of the rocks that had had him pinned, eyeing the Rock Tomb warily, and there was a brief break as Roxanne and I wracked our brains.

So if I could knock Nosepass over, good. What did I know about Nosepass? Slow, heavy, strong, magnetic (especially in cold weather)…

Muu was faster, had the type advantage, and needed to stay damp…

"Rock Throw," Roxanne ordered, and I frowned. Inside the Rock Tomb, Nosepass shouldn't be able to attack—

Rocks rose and flew towards Muu, who didn't have anywhere to dodge to as he was bombarded on all sides.

"Muu!" I cried in shock. "What?"

"I have battled on this ground long enough that Nosepass's powerful magnetism has affected the rocks here, giving them magnetic properties," explained Roxanne, a note of superiority in her voice. "Nosepass can manipulate the whole field like this."

CRAP! We needed some way to end this fast! Wait, inside the Rock Tomb, Nosepass couldn't see Muu; could she sense footsteps or something? "Muu, move! If you move, maybe Nosepass won't know where to aim!" I shouted.

The field was shaking as the rocks groaned, moving seemingly on their own. What the heck did I know about magnetics? There was something about north ends attracting or south ends repelling, I couldn't remember—didn't that mean rocks should either be sticking together or coming apart? There must be metals in the rocks for it to work, right? _I don't know much about magnetism… WHATEVER._

"Attack that Rock Tomb with everything you've got!" I shouted. "Water Gun!"

I saw a shot of water pound into the barrier protecting Nosepass, but despite its intensity, it seemed to just roll off, pooling around it. Rocks were still flying about, sending Muu on a mad run of dodging and shooting Water Guns, slowly drawing closer to me. Raw strength wasn't working, but neither was my brain. I could barely hear myself think over the tremendous noise this was all making—what should I do?

Roxanne was a master of using her surroundings, I thought bizarrely, recalling what Steven had said to me earlier. She had Nosepass safe behind an impenetrable barrier while the surroundings whittled away at Muu's HP. Muu didn't know a move—

In a sudden, quiet voice, I said, "Go near Nosepass and use Bide."

Tense, endless moments passed. Then, "MAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!" and something exploded, white light expanding rapidly to crumble almost every rock on the field. _Sorry, Steven_, I thought. _I relied on Bide again._

"Follow up with Water Gun!" I shouted, catching sight of the shattered remains of Rock Tomb and Roxanne's stunned expression. Muu swelled, drawing his head back in preparation, but instead of water, a stream of mud slammed into Nosepass, pushing her back. Muu stopped, panting for breath, but Nosepass was still conscious, "Water Gun to finish it off!" An enormous amount of water burst from Muu, much more than I was expecting, and bowled Nosepass over.

"Nosepass is unable to battle; the victor is…uh, the challenger!" yelled the referee, hesitating awkwardly mid-sentence. I was too busy dashing over to my adorable Muu, splattered with mud from his awesome attack to really be bothered over it.

"Muu, you did great! We won the badge!" I exclaimed.

"Shhh…" Muu groaned, and I hurried to steady him with a hand on his shoulder.

Roxanne approached me, having returned Nosepass. There was a layer of rock dust across her shoulders and brown hair. "Here is your badge," she said, offering a bronze scrap of metal that looked like a broken rectangle, "the Stone Badge."

I accepted it. "Thank you, you did very well… I thought we were goners…"

"So did I," said Roxanne. "Might I inquire the name of the person who defeated me?"

I opened my mouth, "May—Sapph. I'm Sapph," I said, stricken at my slip. _May? Smart move, genius! You nearly blew your cover by introducing yourself as May!_ Badge in hand, I shoved my hands into my pockets. "It was nice battling you," I babbled, "but I gotta go heal, bye!"

I fled and lost myself in the maze for much longer than it had taken me the first time because I was shaking, furious at myself, and too emotional to think straight and figure the way out. However, by the time I stumbled across the exit by luck, I had calmed considerably. Running around like a headless chicken had taken the edge off and my heart was no longer pounding a million a minute.

I sat at the Pokémon Center as my Pokémon healed, breathing deeply and fingering the Stone Badge in my pocket. A grin crept across my face. If only I could boast to my father: See! See! I got one!

Still touching the badge with one hand, I absently rifled through my pockets with the other, searching for some money; my team definitely deserved a treat for this. Maybe now that I had a badge, Mishroo would warm up to me? My fingers brushed a cloth, and I frowned, bemused. I pulled it out. It was the blue bandanna, a light blue pokéball symbol on it.

Grinning, I put it on, checking my reflection by unfocusing my eyes and staring at a window. I definitely appeared rakish, a little more confident and boyish in it, though the confident look probably came from the badge in my pocket and not the bandanna on my head.

"Excuse me, your Pokémon are ready," Nurse Joy told me, handing me two pokéballs. I hadn't given her Mishroo's, since he hadn't been hurt.

Grinning widely, I thanked her, and left the building brimming with a light feeling and with every intention of getting some ice cream, and maybe doing some sight-seeing at the Devon Corporation building.

The strange man, so desperate to get his hands on the stupid Devon employee's papers, never crossed my mind.

* * *

Alright, Steven made his debut, and Sapph earned her first badge!

Please, review! Reviewing will let me make this a better story :)

5/13/12 edit: Grammar, accents in Pokémon

3/31/13 edit: grammar

—xxsapphireheartxx


	4. Chapter 4: Disaster at Devon

Heroes of Hoenn

_Red, Gold, and now me—Steven says it's fate. I have to disagree. It's terrible, terrible, good luck. [Based on RSE]_

Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me, nor do its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Disaster at Devon**

* * *

"C'mon, Mishroo," I begged, "I'm not trying to poison you! Please, you don't have to eat the ice cream if you don't want to… I'll teach you my TM Bullet Seed!"

Just out of my reach, wedged between two huge dumpsters, the shroomish bristled threateningly, and I winced. "H-hey, no need to get out the big guns. You don't have to paralyze me. Crap, I just wanna be your friend!"

"Shrr…" hissed Mishroo.

"I don't want to bring Muu and Ralon into it," I told him. "I'd like for you to choose to come to me. I mean…if you don't like ice cream, what _do_ you like? I can get you some of that." To celebrate earning our first badge, I'd taken my Pokémon out for a treat. Muu, my marshtomp, and Ralon, my ralts, were delighted and pigged out. Mishroo…was a different story.

Unlike my other two Pokémon, whom I got along with fine, he was cold and, I suspected, extremely introverted. But I thought it went beyond that: he must have a personal disliking of me and everything having to do with me. He was aggressive, and if any of us approached him, he'd let off a Stun Spore. Every time I let him out of his pokéball, he always was up to some trouble, and not the harmless, mischievous type. I had yet to use him in a battle because, frankly, I didn't trust him. I was sure he didn't trust me either, and I wasn't sure how to break that barrier. It seemed like every time I tried to understand or get along with him, he ended up trying to paralyze me and run away!

If it weren't for Muu and Ralon, and the Stone Badge they'd won me, I'd assume I was just a sucky trainer, that I was doing something horribly wrong that made Mishroo hate me so much. It could be that I was doing something wrong, but Mishroo wouldn't associate with me even long enough for me to get an answer!

At first, I was hurt by his behavior. But now I was mostly aggravated.

"Return," I said wearily. Mishroo, between the two dumpsters against a wall, had nowhere to go but his ball. I straightened, grimacing as I tried not to breathe the smell. I backed out of the alleyway, letting out Ralon. Being the Feeling Pokémon, there was no better companion when you were down, and Ralon stuck closely to me, his obvious loyalty making me feel calmer.

"To Devon next," I told him. "They've got some cool stuff there; I've heard they're working on an invention that would allow humans to understand what Pokémon are saying!" I remembered that from an advertisement I'd seen here in Rustboro somewhere.

"Ralll?" Ralon asked, his eyes hidden beneath his green outer layer, like a helmet.

"I bet that would help a lot with Mishroo," I sighed, before taking my mind off it. "Never mind that, c'mon. Let's ask directions, since I don't have a clue which of these tall buildings it is. 'Scuse me! Where's the Devon building?"

"Two blocks west, and one north of here," the lady called.

"Thanks much!" I yelled back, stumbling as someone jostled me. "Prick," I hissed under my breath, glaring at his back.

"Raa," murmured Ralon, and a moment later the guy tripped, as if his foot had caught on something, and fell flat on his face.

Trying not to snigger too loudly, I whispered, "Ra_l__on_," mock-chidingly. Ralon churred mischievously in response.

I laughed, swooping down to pick him up. "Don't want you to get stepped on, after all," I said, my tone exaggeratedly serious as we both ignored the fact if anyone tried to step on him he'd Teleport away first.

Following the directions, we found the Devon Corporation building easily. It was a large, elegant building, with a double-archway as a door. I walked in, stepped on their crimson carpet that covered the entire floor. A pretty brunette woman was sitting behind a desk in front of me, and gave me a professionally beauteous smile.

"Welcome to Devon," she said coolly, "is there something I can help you with?"

"Nope, we're just here to have a look around," I said cheerfully.

"Floors one through five are the floors open to the public; any others are not permitted. Please enjoy your trip to our humble headquarters, young sir!"

"Thanks," I said, ambling to my right. It was still a little strange, hearing myself being referred to as male. It had happened a couple of times in the just under a week I'd been pretending to be a boy, enough times that I didn't pull a strange or bemused expression when I heard it.

This week was the most eventful, most stressful, and most satisfying week of all my sixteen years. I'd made two rivals, one close friend (who was the only one besides my Pokémon to know the truth of my circumstances), fought a criminal to save a man, watched my first Pokémon evolve, and, not even hours ago, succeeded in defeating Roxanne, the rock-type gym leader of Rustboro. And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

I found myself grinning, touching the badge in my pocket with one hand, and holding Ralon with the other. He was very light, so it was an easy task. "So," I said, eyeing the portraits of old men hanging on the walls, "these are the former owners of Devon." Casting a look down the wall, I bit back a frown, the smile sliding from my face—were they _all_ men?—until I caught sight of a stern woman. I wanted to walk towards it, but there was a strange man talking in an urgent, low voice into his cellphone standing in my way. I walked around him, catching a smidget of his conversation:

"…everything seems to be alright. Nothing should go awry, sir." I glanced at him curiously, wondering if he worked here. He was wearing a cap, and the bill of it obscured his face. I shrugged; he probably got a work call while visiting here. Ralon shifted uneasily in my arms.

I examined the portrait, reading, _Stephanie Stone_. Her hair was a pale blue, and her eyes a severe gray; but the laughter lines on her face betrayed her seriousness, hinting at a very different person beneath the mask.

Her painting was the second to last, and I dutifully looked over the current president; his hair was a faded gray and slightly spiky. Like Stephanie Stone, his eyes were gray, but his expression was lighthearted. He wasn't smiling outright, but there was something of warmth in his face at which Stephanie's merely hinted at. I looked at his name: Stewart Stone.

I let out a huff of appreciative laughter. The Stone family seemed to like alliteration; in fact, I noticed, the names also had T as their second letter. I wondered if the president were to have a son, if he'd be named Steve.

Growing bored with the portraits, I went up the stairs, where someone was giving a talk on some of Devon's projects. Ralon and I listened with detached interest before deciding to wander. Ralon seemed uncommonly fidgety, uncomfortable in these surroundings—perhaps the amount of people was getting to him? It was understandable that it'd be bewildering, sensing the emotions of so many, though he'd never had a problem in the Pokémon Center… I finally returned him, letting Muu out with me.

We had fun playing with a machine that was supposed to read your thoughts and display your brainwaves on a screen. There were pictures of people's brainwaves at different ages and under different conditions. My sharp eyes did not miss the fact Muu's brainwaves looked vaguely similar to the image of the child's.

Finally, I waved down a staff member and asked for the location of the bathroom. After finding it, and using it, I taught Muu how to flush the toilet, and he did it several times, looking delighted. Amused at his reactions, I next showed him how to use the sink and pointed out how one knob made hot water and the other made cold. Could he do that? We decided to test it out at a training session.

I was opening the door when someone screamed and I caught a glimpse of the backs of some people. As soon as I saw the white A's along the side their pants, I quietly shut the door.

Heartbeat speeding up, I sat on the floor, back against the door, and breathed deeply. Looking at Muu, I told him, "It's those criminal creeps again. Like the one we fought in Petalburg Woods. …He was after something of Devon's then, wasn't he?" I asked, dread congealing in my stomach. I wondered if we could hide in here until the police sorted it out, but I heard another sobbing scream from the other side of the door and Muu had a frantic, tense look on his fish-face that was giving me a bad feeling about this.

"They're probably gonna check the bathrooms," I rationalized, "so it's no use hiding in here. Thi…think we should teach'em a lesson again?" Nervously, I recalled the only damage-dealing move Ralon knew was Confusion, and I had learned the hard way Confusion didn't affect poochyena, who were dark-types. No way Mishroo would help… I gulped. Well, it was probably just that guy who had a poochyena. Just because one "A" guy had a poochyena didn't mean that they all did.

"Darn it," I groaned, "I swear, no matter how much it costs, I'm getting some sort of cellphone after this!" Jumping to my feet angrily, I said, "On guard, Muu," and opened the door a crack. There were two "A" guys terrorizing a balding man and a young girl, a poochyena snarling ferociously. The child was crying, clutching at her father's pants leg. Both criminals had their backs to me.

I opened the door and stepped out. Muu walked in front of me, seeming grim. The poochyena snapped his jaws at the girl. My eyes met the ones of the man, and whatever he saw made his widen. I pulled my hand out of my pocket, the Quick Claw slipping through my fingers. Muu caught it.

"Get closer," I said quietly, barely audible over the girl's wails, "and Mud Shot that Pokémon into the wall." Mud Shot was Muu's newest, strongest move.

Muu leapt forward, and a stream of mud erupted from his mouth, smashing the doglike Pokémon against the wall.

"What the—" The "A" people whirled around. One was a guy, and the other a girl, both probably around thirty years old. By the way the man's jaw clenched, I guessed it was his poochyena.

"Just a boy?" said the "A" woman, sounding surprised. Spiky red hair stuck out in pigtails from underneath her "A" bandanna, but her eyebrows were black. A wig?

"A kid or no, he's going down!" seethed the man. "Get up and use Bite!"

Poochyena staggered to his feet, and lunged at Muu, jaws opening.

"Mud Shot," I said flatly, and Muu blasted mud at him, sending him flying into the wall. He did not stir. I loved Mud Shot.

"You…" said the man, stunned at being taken out so quickly. Even I was a bit surprised, though I'd never admit it aloud.

"I'm next," snapped the woman, whipping out a pokéball. "Zubat, go!"

Ralon would better deal with Zubat. I returned Muu, tossing out Ralon.

"Tch! Supersonic!"

"Teleport," I said, and before the concentric glowing blue circles of Supersonic could hit, Ralon Teleported beneath Zubat. "Confusion."

"Astonish!"

Reeling from the Confusion, Zubat plummeted. I relaxed slightly. Ralon yelped in surprise as Zubat, quick as could be, struck with Astonish, glowing red.

"Ralon!" I cried, astonished myself. I realized Zubat had been faking how hard he'd been hit by the attack in order to get close to Ralon. I grimaced. What a stupid thing to fall for!

"Leech Life!" yelled the woman, and Zubat, already near, clipped Ralon with a cry. The edges around Ralon blurred slightly.

"Teleport!" I shouted as little globes of energy emerged from Ralon, but the damage was done. Zubat absorbed the energy, regaining health. I was about to call for Double Team when I realized that, without eyes, it would be useless against Zubat. "Confusion."

"Bite!"

Confusion hit first, and knocked Zubat out. I sighed with relief.

"Brat!" snarled the woman, returning her Pokémon. "You'll pay for messing with Team Aqua! C'mon, let's scram for back up!" She and the man ran, but I was preoccupied with what she'd said. Team Aqua…hadn't the guy in the forest said something similar? At least I knew what the "A" stood for. "Team Aqua" was an unusual name for a criminal organization…even "Team Rocket" was better. Wasn't Rocket an acronym, anyway?

"I…I don't know how to thank you," said the man. I blinked at him, mildly surprised to realize he was still there. Huh, what? Thank me? Well, it wasn't like he was a kid… "Wait. I do." He began to fish around in his pockets. I hoped he was going to pay me; that cellphone was going to cost a fair amount, but what he pulled out weren't wads of pokédollars, but instead a silver disc. "This is HM01, Cut. Unlike a TM, it will not break after usage. It is invaluable to a traveler."

Slightly disappointed, I accepted the disc. Who was I to say no, after all? "Thanks. Err…you should maybe try to escape, or take cover," I suggested.

He nodded, picking up his sniffling daughter. "Yes. They call me the Cutter; if you ever need something, ask for directions to my house."

"Okay," I said uncomfortably, "but you should really get going."

He left at a run. I looked at Ralon, who was tense. "Let's try to avoid everyone we can, okay? We're looking for a phone—an emergency button would actually do good too…and we wanna avoid all the people we can. Can you steer us around them?"

"Ral," confirmed Ralon, drifting down the hallway. I followed, blood humming with anxiety. I shoved my shaking hands into my pockets, one hand closing around Muu's pokéball, and the other around the Stone Badge.

_Call the police; they can deal with the bad guys,_ I told myself. _Easy. There should be emergency switches somewhere—a fire alarm would be good…where?_

"Ralts, ra raltssss," Ralon warned me.

"Hey! Surrender, right now!" shouted a brash voice, and a Team Aqua member emerged from a room. "Get in here with the rest of the prisoners!"

We ran, taking off down the hall. I could hear the thudding footsteps and harsh breaths of our pursuer; he sounded like a big guy. "Poochyena! Catch them!"

I pulled out Muu, whirling to face him. "Muu, Mud Shot!" Mud Shot knocked down Poochyena, "Cover the ground with mud!" and I picked up Muu with difficulty and ran. His head was over my shoulder, and I could feel his muscles contracting as he unleashed another Mud Shot. The man shouted curses after me, having to be careful on the uncertain footing, not to mention Muu sometimes switched his aim from the floor to them.

Once we'd escaped down a hallway, panting heavily, I put Muu down. Ralon was beside us, perfectly in breath; instead of running to keep up with us, he'd Teleported every few meters. It gave me a surly feeling of envy.

"C'mon, and keep your eyes open for enemies or fire alarms. Or any sort of button," I snapped. "We gotta get help. Why the hell don't they have any fire alarms?"

We'd gone a few more hallways before we were attacked by zubat.

"Leech Life them!"

My head jerked in, seeing a confusing impression of wings and blue bodies swarming towards us overhead. There were too many to attack all at once with Confusion and Water Gun before they reached us, so I shouted, "Confusion to bring down the lights on them!" There was a minor electrical explosion as Ralon dragged the overhead light off its stem and let it drop on the zubats. I didn't hear the zubats make noise except for a faint, high-pitched keening, but Ralon and Muu flinched violently, Muu going as far to press his fins against the sides of his head where his ear holes were located.

_Too high for me to hear,_ I realized. "Water Gun! Confusion!"

Muu exhaled a torrent of water, knocking some of them out, and other zubats glowed slightly. A half-minute later, all the zubat were unconscious, and Muu and Ralon hadn't taken any damage from the fight. The Aqua trainers fled.

Heading a different direction than them, I saw an "Employees Only" door, and wasted no time in smashing it down with Mud Shot and a frustrated kick from myself. Only after I walked in and noticed the unconscious Aqua woman with a bloody forehead did I realize there had been someone behind the door. Feeling guilty, I scavenged her pockets and found a key. I propped her up against a wall so she wouldn't be stepped on as Ralon and Muu awkwardly fixed the door in place in a semblance of normality. The dent Mud Shot had left in it was a bit of a giveaway, though.

Unlike the other hallways, there was no red carpeting here. The floor was reminiscent of a hospital, with sterile white tiles and white walls. Unlocking a door at the end of that hallway, I found a staircase. There was also a smell of cleaning fluid, and as I ascended, I realized that this must lead to the off-limits lab area above the public floors.

Ralon, instead of climbing stairs, Teleported up to the landing, waited for Muu and me, waited for us to be halfway up to the floor, and the Teleported to the door. I decided that Ralon was going to be going through endurance and physical training when we got out of this.

"You hear?" I demanded of him. "'m serious, here. It's no fair how you can just Teleport, so I'm gonna make sure you can do it without Teleporting, too." My ribcage was hurting from the constant sprinting. "And why the heck aren't there fire alarms on this staircase? I'm making a complaint to Devon after this!" Just then, I spotted one. It was small and covered in a glass barrier. Ralon removed it before I could obliviously (attempt to) smash my fist through, made stupid by relief.

I wasn't sure what I expected. Well, actually, I kinda thought the white walls would gain a red cast as an alarm blared. Nothing happened.

I was about to scream about Devon's inferior, nonexistent security when it occurred to me that Team Aqua, as impossible as it might seem for those dunces, maybe messed with it so that alarms can't go out. Probably phone calls, too. Wasn't that always what they did in the movies?

I groaned pathetically. "What are we supposed to do _now?_"

"HEY! Put your hands up or else!"

No, it wasn't the police. I eyed the woman, very tired of their bandanna-heads. It wasn't nearly so cool as the one I was wearing now! "Confusion," I said irritably, and like the rude man on the way to Devon had, the woman tripped. Fortunately (or unfortunately) she hadn't been far from my landing and fell without any lasting side effects other than bruises. "Take her pokéballs." The pokéballs rolled out of her pocket, and I stalked over, tossing them over the side, safe in the knowledge the Pokémon in them wouldn't be harmed by the fall. _Poor Pokémon. They're probably relieved to be free of this woman._ "What're you guys doing here?" I demanded. "What're Team Aqua's goals here?"

She sat up, her back against the steps. "I'm not telling you nothing!"

"Darn," I snapped. "Why?"

"Because…I'm loyal to Team Aqua!" she stuttered.

"Team Aqua isn't here right now," I said darkly. "It's just me'n' you with my Pokémon in a deserted staircase." Weren't villains supposed to be snivelly and conniving? And eager to escape with their own skins intact?

"You're just a brat," she said scornfully. "You don't have the guts to do nothing to me."

I twitched, wishing she wasn't right. What was I supposed to do with a prisoner anyway? I didn't have any rope, and there wasn't a door to accidentally knock her out with. I couldn't drag her along with me, and I doubted even if I took her hostage that Team Aqua would be willing to negotiate. Seconds ticked by as I wracked my brain. "Err…I don't suppose you could use Confusion to painlessly knock her out, Ralon?" I asked hopefully, knowing if he could knock people out with a clever use of Confusion, he'd probably use it in Pokémon battles. "No…? Okay. Fine. One funny move, and seriously, Ralon will use Confusion on you." I went through her pockets, and found another key. "Okay, there we go." I led her back down the stairs, and threw her into the hallway with the unconscious lady. Neither of them had keys, so they were stuck there until someone opened these doors.

I stomped back up the stairs, wondering what to do next. The fire alarm wasn't working…I didn't have a phone, and phones probably weren't working anyway… Okay, I should probably get out of the building and run for the police. I was pretty sure that wouldn't work, if they were thorough enough to stop even the fire alarms from working.

_I could jump out the window…_though from this height, the sixth floor, it was a bad idea; Ralon wasn't strong enough with Confusion to stop my fall. Though he had torn down that light fixture on the zubat…

I could free the prisoners. If I managed that, which would probably be a minor miracle in itself, then what? Maybe someone else would have an idea as to what to do? 'Cause I was completely dry, unless I wanted to, I dunno, find the Aqua boss and challenge him/her to a battle? They'd probably laugh their butts off and send their minions after me; who could blame them? I was just a week-old trainer with a badge.

With a badge…I touched its smooth metal in my pocket. Darn it…Devon had to have security guards here, right? They were probably stronger than me! There was no way I could be the strongest trainer in the building.

_Aqua would have had plans for the security. Who's visiting is impossible to prepare for._ There was a sick feeling in my stomach, and my hands started to shake again. _Coward!_ I berated myself. _What're you going to do, prove Dad right for not allowing a Pokémon journey?! Ralon and Muu endure physical attacks and pain for you, and fight for you…why aren't you going to do the same?_ It wasn't like Team Aqua had their dirty hands on Muu and Ralon, though…

The Cutter's daughter scream echoed through my mind. _Are you seriously going to just let that happen again?_

I breathed deeply in. I wasn't going to avoid the Aqua cronies anymore; I was going to beat as many of them as possible, free people if I could, and when I found the person responsible for this…well, they'd better be prepared, even if I was only a week-old trainer._ If we're still alive when this is over, I'm going to train Ralon and Muu really hard. And we're going to get all the badges._

"Th…this can be training. For the next gym," I said aloud, hating how my voice trembled. "Tr-training, okay?"

"Ral."

"Mar."

I squared my shoulders; where would the leader likely be? Where would the scientists, workers, and other people be held? Should I go up floor-by-floor to try and find them? Or should I go down and try to release the visitors?

_The employees know their way around,_ I rationalized. _I'd better go after them first, because they'll be more helpful. Visitors will be safe where they are, I think._ I cracked open the door I'd been standing indecisively in front of for the past few minutes. I saw no one in the hallway, so, after glancing at Muu and Ralon (who gave confirmation), I stepped out.

As we walked down the hallway, me looking down at Muu and Ralon every few seconds to see if they sensed anyone, I was hyper-aware of the _quiet_. It was extremely unnerving; at least if there were screams and crashes I had an idea what was happening and where, but with nothing but our breaths and footsteps to listen to, it was terrifying. My hands were shaking again, so I put them back in my pockets and clutched at the Stone Badge. I wondered if it had been this quiet on the public floors and I just hadn't noticed.

Finally, Ralon gave a low groan and Muu stiffened. When the Team Aqua members turned the corner, they tripped simultaneously, and Ralon Confusioned their pokéballs away. I stuffed them in my pockets, intending to give them to any employees I found (hopefully the Pokémon would listen), and I ignored the fact I'd technically stolen their Pokémon as we ran down the hall, hearing shouting behind us.

The next minions we ran into weren't so easily tricked. Muu and Ralon had sensed people in a room, so I'd checked if they were employees; they weren't. There was a skirmish between us before I had Ralon use Confusion to bring down the curtains on them (the room was an office), and using a flurry of paper as a cover, Muu knocked out their Pokémon; we escaped. I hoped whoever owned it never learned who rendered all his work unreadable with mud.

Hurrying down a hallway, both Ralon and Muu gave me warning of people ahead.

"A lot?" I whispered. Muu nodded. The Quick Claw was still in his grasp, though it was a little awkward for him to hold it with his fin. I took it back so that it wouldn't hinder him.

There were enough people that I could hear them. My gut told me they, too, were Team Aqua members, though it was a bit of a giveaway when one of them mentioned the boss would chew them out if they let any prisoners out. "Alright, you two," I whispered, because their superior senses had given me an idea, "Ralon, you'll use Confusion not to tear down the lights, but to make them go dark—like, break the wires or flow of electricity to them or whatnot. There'll be mass chaos and confusion as the lights out, and then you two can take them out. Muu, use your discretion as to whether to use Water Gun or Mud Shot. When they're all incapacitated, you guys lead me to the prisoners. Ready?" Both nodded. "You can make the lights go dark, right, Ralon? We'll give you a minute to figure it out." My sense of time was distorted, so it seemed to take forever before Ralon nodded. "Do it!"

With a sizzle, the lights went out. Immediately the criminals began shouting, and I heard Muu using Water Gun. I felt guiltily relieved; I shouldn't feel happy that these horrible people weren't suffering from Mud Shot's greater power, but I really didn't want to listen to their pained screams. Eventually I felt Muu tug on me and I blindly followed him through the darkness, groans telling me these people were far from dead, only dazed. I fumbled with a doorknob before calling a warning, "Everyone away from the door unless you want to be hit by it!" and gave them a moment before Muu used Mud Shot to open the door.

I squinted in the light, seeing a roomful of adults. Some wore white lab coats like Birch; others looked like janitors. I'd found the employees.

I cleared my throat, holding up my hands as a woman raised a coffee machine threateningly, clearly intending to whack me and escape. "I'm here to rescue you. The Aqua freaks are still out there, but they're weakened. I haven't fought all of them, but if we can beat their boss, I'm hoping they'll all flee. Does anyone have any idea where their boss might be?"

"Probably on the top floor," said an intelligent-seeming man in his thirties. "That's where the President's office is."

"Can you show me the way?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Of course."

"What should we do?" asked someone, and all of them were looking at me.

"Err…" _How the heck am I supposed to know?_ "Lock the Team Aqua members out there in here, and confaskinate—confiscate their Pokémon. You'd better hurry, before they recover." Grabbing the wrist of my volunteer guide, I dragged him out the door and down a hallway, away from the scene as the employees converged upon the criminals.

I let go of his wrist and looked at him expectantly. "Which way?"

"The fastest way would be the elevator," he said, "but you need a code to take the elevator to the top floor, and I don't know it. So we'll have to take the elevator to the second-to-last floor, and…are these the only Pokémon you have to fight with?"

I frowned self-consciously. I wasn't going to be fighting with Mishroo, so… "Yeah…"

"Alright then. We won't be able to scale the outside wall and get in through a window"—I stared at him blankly; could people really do that?—"so we'll have to take a more obvious route: the stairs." He eyed my blue bandanna. "But first, let's be a little less noticeable, and exchange that bandanna for an Aqua one."

Changing into the Aqua uniform had, of course, occurred to me. But I figured it was useless without the rest of the uniform, which was made for adults; it wouldn't come close to fitting me, especially the men's uniform. The shirt would hang off me very clearly, and my waist was smaller than the pants would fit. Plus, if I were putting on their uniform, it meant I'd have to take it _off_ them first. It was embarrassingly childish, but I really didn't want to see these guys in just their underwear. It felt _wrong_.

"Let's not," I said. "It's not like they'd let us in, not even if we pretended we were reporting. I think…"

He had taken off at a brisk walk and I had to jog to catch up and keep up with him. I returned Ralon. He was weaker than Muu, and despite the Teleporting (or maybe because it drained his psychic energy?) Ralon was in much worse condition than Muu. The fact we'd been facing many zubat with Leech Life, Bite, and Astonish, as well as poochyena, didn't help. Muu walked beside me.

I followed him up a set of stairs, and down hallways until he stopped in front of a room. "There are undoubtedly Aqua members in there," he told me. "There's vital data. You need to beat them and save the data."

I eyed the door dubiously. "If it's as important as you say, wouldn't they have already taken it to their leader?"

"Not if they haven't broken the security on it," he said in the tone of one talking to a child.

I flushed. "You mean, like cracking passwords and stuff?"

"And stuff," he said vaguely. "If the data were protected by only passwords, it would be long gone."

"Okay. Ready, Muu? On guard." Stepping forward, I opened the door. There were a couple of scientists, one of whom had a black eye, and another in worse condition lying still on the floor. One sat at a console, pale and typing. Or had been; he stopped as soon as I opened the door.

My eyes fixed on a growling poochyena. She was much bigger and muscled than the ones I'd fought so far and I knew instinctively she was stronger. "Muu, Mud Shot!"

"Dodge!" snapped a male Aqua member, not losing time due to surprise. Poochyena leapt out of the way and Mud Shot hit a chair, sending it careening into a wall. Poochyena snarled, tail bristling and teeth bared. I refused to be overly intimidated.

"Bite!" the trainer bellowed, and Poochyena shot forward at Muu.

"Mud Shot!" Muu fended her off with Mud Shot, sending her skidding back.

"Sand Attack!" ordered the Aqua, and I countered quickly with, "Stop it with Water Gun!"

Poochyena kicked up sand, hurling it at Muu, but a rush of water returned the attack back to her. She skidded back. I was slightly surprised she was still conscious; I wasn't sure if any of the opponents we'd faced so far had survived a Mud Shot and then Water Gun (except for zubat, because as part flying-types, Mud Shot hadn't affected them).

"Howl!"

"Growl," I ordered, again negating his move. Howl raised the user's attack, while Growl lowered the opponent's attack.

For someone like Poochyena, who only knew physical and status attacks (I thought), fighting a special-attack user like Muu, especially one stronger than she, was difficult. At least, I thought Muu was at a higher level than her—he'd grown a bunch fighting all the minor minions before, and there was the gym battle…what levels were Muu and Ralon at, anyway?

"Run at it!" commanded the Aqua, and Poochyena ran at Muu, still Howling.

"Mud Shot."

"Dodge! Bite!"

Muu stopped Growling, instead shooting mud at Poochyena, who leapt up and to the side, pushing off a wall to slam into Muu. Her mouth closed about one of Muu's fins as she bowled him to the ground.

"Bide."

They stayed like that, Poochyena attacking Muu viciously and Muu preparing himself. With a flash, he hurled Poochyena off of him, and she hit the wall, "Mud Shot!" and he finished her off. He was panting, worn down by all the previous battles and facing a good opponent.

"My turn!" cried a woman. "Go, Zubat!"

"Okay Muu, take a rest," I said, seeing Muu needed it. "Ralon, your turn! Watch out for its super-effective moves!"

Ralon came out of his pokéball in a burst of red light. It hadn't been nearly enough of a break for him. "We need to finish this quickly. Confusion!"

Ralon hurled the chair at Zubat, knocking him from the air. "Zubat, Leech Life!" Zubat flew at Ralon.

"Confusion again!"

Grabbing Zubat directly with Confusion, Ralon slammed him against the wall several times. Zubat fainted.

I wiped my forehead, relieved at the shorter battle. It was clear that even if it had been a short break, it had at least won us this battle quickly. The scientist and I backed away from the doorway, letting the defeated Aqua members run away while hollering I'd regret this.

My guide strode over to the computer. "Did you give it to them?" he demanded harshly.

The scientist sitting at the computer shook his head, holding up a disc. "You came at the exactly right time," he said, relieved.

My guide took the silver disc from him. "We'll take care of that."

The scientist blinked. "Oh…shouldn't we destroy it?"

"We're going to destroy the computer," my guide said flatly, looking at me. "Go ahead."

Ralon was tense, all but glaring at my guide. His red eyes were almost glowing under his helmet.

I frowned. "Hang on a minute."

"Believe me, this is the better course of action," he said emphatically.

Ralon still was hostile. My sensible guide suddenly seemed sinister.

"Ralon," I said tersely, and he Confusioned the disc from my guide's hand. "I'll take that."

They looked at me with disbelief. "You're on their side?"

"I don't trust either of you with this," I snapped. "We're going to lock this room. You"—I pointed at the scientist—"are going to take care of your comrades and guard this computer. If Aqua comes again, destroy it like he says. _You_ are going to show me to the President's office. No more detours and _no_ uniform-snatching." I considered. Ralon wasn't strong enough to levitate us up a floor when we reached the second-to-last floor. Looked like I really would have to mount some sort of frontal assault on the stairs leading up.

My guide—I realized I didn't know a name for him—was staring at me, narrow-eyed. "Now," I added. Finally, he complied, stonily leaving the room. I looked at Ralon for permission and he nodded. I followed him. "Hey, I don't know your name. What is it?"

"What's yours?"

"I asked first. Plus, you owe me. So spill."

"Charlie," he rolled his eyes. "It's not wrong of me to want to know the name of my _savior_, is it?"

I really didn't like this guy now. Ralon was right, there was something off about him. "I don't give my name out to strangers," I said haughtily. I saw his back tense in irritation and I wondered if he was going to swing around and force the issue. He didn't.

We reached an elevator and took it to the second-highest floor listed. As soon as we stepped out, I was forced to call on Muu to take on the ambush of Aqua members loitering in the hallway. Afterwards I healed them with two potions each, and looked up to see Charlie giving me that calculating, lidded-eyed look.

He wasn't a Team Aqua member—after all, he'd prevented what seemed to be one of their big objectives…what if he was leading me into a trap? A moment later I dismissed the notion. Why would someone want to lead _me_ into a trap? Unless, of course, he worked for my mom or Norman and wanted to bring me to Petalburg or Littleroot…he couldn't, right? I couldn't have been found already. Plus, he worked for Devon—long enough to know his way around and know what's important.

Okay, so he wasn't working for Norman…and I was beginning to think he wasn't entirely loyal to Devon. So he wasn't Aqua, he wasn't Norman, and he wasn't Devon; was he some petty crook who just wanted the disc I'd (behind his back) slipped into one of my jacket's secret pockets for dough? Or maybe a corrupt scientist?

_He's definitely got bad intentions_, I thought, thinking of Ralon's reaction to him.

"We're there," he said lowly, stopping. I looked at Ralon and Muu, wondering if we could pull another darkness trick.

"Thank you for your help. You can go now," I told him. _I don't want to have to guard my back while fighting Aqua._

Charlie refused, of course. "Leave now? No way. I can't."

"I'd really appreciate it if you would," I said. "I can't babysit you while facing their boss." I stopped, realizing I really was about to face their boss. Charlie leapt on my paling pallor.

"Maybe I can help! Like, when you're fighting them, I can save the President. Or I can give you advice during your battle. Or I can work the computer system."

"I don't have time to be arguing with you!" I hissed.

"So I'm coming," he said simply.

"You're not. Not until you tell me what it is you're hiding," I snapped.

Charlie reeled back, surprised. "What?"

"Come on," I scoffed, "You had me at first, but to try and fool Ralon? You're not Devon, and you're not working for my personal enemy. I don't think you're Aqua, so—who are you?"

Charlie leaned forward, intense. "I honestly want to stop Aqua. I hate them, and I'll do anything. Tell me if I'm lying now."

I looked down at Ralon and Muu. Muu twitched in a slight shrug and Ralon reluctantly nodded. He was being truthful. I still didn't trust him with anything, though, so I forced out an, "Alright. But you have to do exactly what I say, got it?"

He nodded, but I doubted he meant it. I didn't have time to twist details out of him, and he knew it, so I forced the problem from my mind. I needed to concentrate on dealing with these Aqua guards. There was an aura of competence about them the rest lacked, and since I was about to be facing the boss, I didn't want to weaken us by battling them first (if we could beat them).

So I needed to cheat somehow. I looked over my surroundings, stuffing my hands in my pockets. I grasped the Stone Badge as I thought.

There were two guards at the door, both female and both redheads like all the other female Aquas I'd seen with the exact same hairstyle. It was obviously a disguise, a uniform to hide its members' identity and making it difficult to count how many of them there were. It reminded me of the Rockets in Johto, who had done something similar, and people had panicked because they didn't know if there were ten Rockets in total or a hundred.

They stood in front of two archways that reminded me of the entrance to the buildings, except that there was steel filling them so you couldn't get past without authority. There was a light relatively nearby and I could see the guards were tense and alert. They knew something was up.

"Aren't you going to battle them?" asked Charlie.

"Shut up and use your brain," I responded acidly. "How can we get past without having to?"

Charlie fell silent, thinking. I ran over my Pokémon's moves in my head. Ralon: Growl, Double Team, Teleport, and Confusion. Muu: Growl, Tackle, Mud-Slap, Water Gun, Bide, and Mud Shot.

Hm…maybe I should've taken Charlie up on his impersonate Team Aqua idea. Could I lure them away somehow? There were two, though; one would go, and the other would stay. One was better than two, though.

_Looks like I'll be getting rid of Charlie anyway,_ I thought wryly.

A Team Aqua skidded around the corner, "Hey, Captain! There's been a breakout by the prisoners! They've managed to retrieve their Pokémon and are fighting against our people! We need help!"

Freeing the employees definitely paid off, I thought as one of the guards ran off with the minion, shouting orders down the hallway.

I'd trip her, and run past—but there's that steel door that looks like it could resist Mud Shot, and which would I enter? "Which is the right door?"

"The one on the left," Charlie whispered back.

"How do we get in?"

"Normally you have to undergo a security check, but I'm predicting they've broken that, and the guard will have a key that'll work."

I nodded. "Alright, then." I returned Muu, ignoring Charlie's bewildered look, and readied myself to sprint. "Trip her when I'm ready; I'll get her moving. HEY, Captain! Come here!"

The guard turned in our direction, a reproving look on her face as she took a step forward. Her lecture-ready face changed to surprise as Charlie and I charged out, her foot glowing as Ralon yanked it telekinetically, and she toppled with a yell. Charlie pounced on her, throwing aside her pokéballs as he pulled a card. He sat on her, pinning her to the ground. "Here, try this card, it might work."

Slightly disturbed by how expertly he'd accomplished it, I tested the doors; they didn't open. I tried swiping the card and they did. "Give that here." Distracted, I almost tossed it back before I checked myself.

"Nu-uh," and I hurried in. Ralon Teleported beside me. I was slightly disappointed when Charlie stuck out an arm, stopping the steel from closing when the sensors saw his arm, and lunged in as the Aqua bucked unexpectedly, throwing him off. The steel slammed shut behind him.

"Let's go," he said, scrambling to his feet. We climbed the staircase, and reached a big door. We exchanged looks. "No other way," Charlie concluded for us, and opened the door, which was, surprisingly, unlocked. We entered. Charlie swept in, his lab coat fluttering about like some sort of dramatic cape, while I hurried in after him, probably looking very scrawny and unimpressive.

In case they started to shake, I stuck my hands in my pockets. By habit now, my fingers closed around the Stone Badge.

A woman whirled around. Unlike the other Aqua women, her hair was long and bushy, and instead of the striped half-top they wore, she wore a pure black one with a sleeveless blue half-jacket over it. Her pants had red A's along their sides instead of white. Her scarlet eyes fastened immediately on Charlie, and she frowned.

"A scientist got away?" she asked in disgust. "I'd heard we were having trouble, but…"

Behind her, at a desk, sat the President of Devon, Stewart Stone. He looked older; there were more lines in his face, and unlike in the portrait, he was completely, utterly serious. He, too, was looking at Charlie.

I should have been offended they both thought Charlie was the threat, the strong one, etcetera etcetera, but having both their gazes off me eased the pressure. Maybe I wouldn't have to battle this fierce woman who radiated power and command?

"Admin Shelly of Team Aqua," observed Charlie, a sardonic twist to his voice. "An _honor_ to meet one such as yourself."

She pulled out a pokéball. "A smart-aleck, eh? I'll beat that out of you soon enough."

Charlie chuckled. "I'm not your opponent; he is." He stepped aside, gesturing at me, and both the President and Shelly looked at me.

I tightened my mouth and lifted my chin, grip on the badge tightening. "I'm definitely going to beat you," I said, for lack of anything else to say.

Shelly laughed, sounding honestly amused. "A brat? You think some snotty-nosed brat can beat _me?_"

"I'm sixteen," I said, nettled.

"I'll sweep you in two moves," she sneered, tossing her pokéball. "Mightyena, out."

I pulled out my PokéDex, because there was _no_ messing around with a Pokémon like _that_. I thought the poochyena from earlier was big? Scary? Strong? _I thought again_. A meter tall, with mostly red eyes and shaggy dark fur—not to mention its sharp teeth and claws, and confident, ready stance…

"Mightyena, the Bite Pokémon. In the wild, Mightyena live in a pack. They never defy their leader's orders. They defeat foes with perfectly coordinated teamwork."

_That's hardly helpful_, I thought.

"That's rich," she snickered. "I'm fighting a baby whose first instinct is to check his precious PokéDex."

I checked for other entries. "It will always obey the commands of a skilled trainer. Its behavior arises from its living in packs in ancient times."

Well, that told me what I already knew: Shelly was a good trainer. I was probably going to lose this… "Muu, on guard!"

"A wise choice, not to use your ralts," congratulated Shelly sarcastically. "Bite!"

"Mud Shot!"

Mightyena charged fearlessly through Mud Shot, hitting Muu squarely, large jaws closing about Muu's head at an angle that he couldn't use Mud Shot or Water Gun. Muu screamed.

"Mud-Slap!" I yelled, clenching my fists tightly as Muu pulled off a weak Mud-Slap. "Bide!"

"Release it," ordered Shelly immediately, and Mightyena quickly backed away. Muu was still storing energy. "Torment!"

Torment either meant you could only use moves that did damage, or that you couldn't use a move twice in a row; I couldn't remember which. Muu unleashed his energy, though it was weak because Mightyena had let go of him quickly after he started using Bide. I decided that Muu and I would have to agree on a code name for Bide so our opponents would keep attacking.

"Bite again!"

I knew we couldn't fend it off with a direct Mud Shot, like we'd grown accustomed to while fighting the minions. "Dodge and hit it with Mud Shot from the side!"

Muu tried to dodge, but was too slow. At least Mightyena hadn't caught him by the head again, so, "Use Mud Shot anyway!"

Mud Shot pounded into Mightyena, who hung tenaciously onto Muu's arm-fin. Eventually, Mightyena leapt away and Muu stopped using Mud Shot. Muu looked a bit dazed.

"Sand Attack!"

"Water Gun!"

Like we had with the poochyena, Water Gun easily threw the sand right back into her face, making Mightyena snort.

"Sand Attack again!"

Wondering why she was trying the same thing, I called, "Water Gun."

Muu inhaled, and then gagged, as if choking. Mighyena lunged forward, "Bite!" and I belatedly remembered Torment. Now I knew which one it did.

Mightyena had knocked Muu to the ground, and stood snarling over him. "Finish with Bite!"

"Mud Shot!" I shouted, realizing Muu was about to _faint_. Muu blasted mud in Mightyena's face, and forced it to back off.

"Bite!"

Mightyena was too close, I thought desperately. Muu wouldn't be able to in time—"M—Water Gun!"

To my shock, Muu's attack hit first, an enormous torrent of water that blasted Mightyena across the office to smash into the wall and faint.

_What?_ I thought blankly.

"You miscalculated, Shelly. Mud Shot lowers the opponent's speed, giving Marshtomp the edge. Not to mention, Marshtomp's ability, Torrent, kicked in and boosted water-type moves to one and a third of their usual power." Charlie gave me an impressed look. "Well planned. For a moment there, I thought Marshtomp was losing."

I struggled to keep a straight face. "Thank you."

"It was all luck," snapped Shelly, "there's no way a brat could think like that!"

I hoped I wasn't flushing. I _totally_ knew all that, and planned all that. I'd never say otherwise—unless it's to Muu, 'cause he was the only one who deserved an answer.

"Let's finish this. Carvanha!"

I fished out my PokéDex. "Carvanha, the Savage Pokémon." Uh-oh, that _really_ didn't sound good. "Carvanha attack—"

"Bite!"

With surprising speed, Carvanha lurched forward, jaws opening unnaturally wide to reveal teeth even sharper than Mightyena's. Thinking of Torrent, I snapped, "Water Gun!" but Muu gagged, Torment giving its death throes, and Carvanha struck. Muu slumped over, unconscious, leaving me feeling like I'd been the one bit, not him.

"HA!" gloated Shelly.

"—ships in swarms, making them sink," droned the PokéDex unfeelingly. "Although it is said to be a very vicious Pokémon, it timidly flees as soon as it finds itself alone." My PokéDex slipped from nerveless fingers and clattered to the floor.

Muu was the backbone of my party. Knowing he was there to clean up if things got messy was reassuring on a level I hadn't even realized. Seeing him unmoving like that made me clutch my badge all the harder, feeling sick.

Oh, Carvanha was a vicious Pokémon all right. Looking blankly down at my PokéDex, _Bite is a dark-type move, please don't tell me…_ Carvanha was a water/dark mix. Which meant Ralon's only move, Confusion, did nothing against it.

I really was going to lose. I returned Muu, feeling numb. My first loss. My eyes were dry, and but my hands were shaking horribly. I was clutching at the Stone Badge so tightly it was cutting me.

Charlie was watching me. He thought he knew exactly what the defeat of Muu meant, that Ralon was my only other Pokémon. He didn't realize it wasn't that messing me up so much, but instead the fact _Muu had fainted because I'd screwed up_. I should've remembered Torment. It was my duty as trainer. I'd let him down.

"Is that ralts your only other Pokémon?" Shelly asked contemptuously. "This match is over already. You put up a good fight, brat, but it's over now! Bite!"

Carvanha lunged at Ralon. Ralon, who was shaking as much as my hands with the force of my suppressed emotion. I needed to get myself under control. "Teleport," I managed to say without my voice cracking, although it was hoarse. I couldn't let Ralon down like I had Muu. _Couldn't_. There was nothing Ralon could do against Carvanha, though…

That. Didn't. Matter. I'd find a way, even if I had to run in there and punch Carvanha myself. I _could not give in and make Muu to have defeated Mightyena for_ _nothing_. I could _not_ lose to a _criminal._

That was when Ralon lit, a white glow filling the office. Standing gracefully face-to-face with Shelly on the President's desk, Ralon stared Shelly in eyes, red to red.

"_Kirlia!_" Ralon cried, voice strong with serious determination. His eyes glowed, and he Teleported in front of me, facing down Carvanha. On the floor, my PokéDex, lit and beeped.

"Kirlia, the Emotion Pokémon. A Kirlia has the psychic power to create a rip in the dimensions and see into the future. It is said to dance with pleasure on sunny mornings."

Never removing my eyes from Shelly, I crouched and picked it up. Just as I was about to put it away, I glanced down at it, seeing something new.

"Bite! This doesn't change things!" shouted Shelly.

"Teleport," I said, voice and face hard, "and use Magical Leaf."

Kirlia winked out of existence and appeared behind Carvanha, his new move unleashing a barrage of glowing leaves. Carvanha howled as they struck.

"Scary Face!" snarled Shelly. Carvanha's eyes glowed, and it seemed like there was a bigger, phantom face hanging over hers.

"Magical Leaf," I said.

Ralon spun in place, and sent leaves flying at Carvanha.

"Ice Fang!" Ice extended Carvanha's already impressive teeth, and she chomped on the leaves, which crackled and broke. Ice beat grass, I thought distantly, realizing it was something important and storing it away for later examination.

"Scary Face!"

"Teleport, Magical Leaf."

"Ice Fang! Screech!"

A horrendous noise filled the room, instantly shattering the windows. Everyone clutched at their ears except Carvanha, Shelly, and me. My hands were hiding in my pockets and one clutched tighter at the Stone Badge, the physical pain keeping me on-task.

"Magical Leaf…"

"Ice Fang!"

"…Confusion!"

Just as Carvanha was about to destroy the glowing leaves, they switched direction, swerving around to strike her side.

"Scary Face!"

Shelly wanted to slow Ralon's speed so that he wouldn't be fast enough to Teleport away. A commendable plan. I needed to finish this…

"Magi—"

"Swagger!" shouted Shelly triumphantly. Ralon's eyes glazed, and he stumbled. Impossibly, my hand tightened further around the badge.

"Bite!"

"Teleport," but I knew it was no use. Caught up in the severe confusion Swagger caused, reactions slowed by Scary Face, Bite landed. As Ralon hit the ground, his eyes seemed to clear, and he smiled at me before his eyes slipped shut.

Shelly cackled. "It's over, kid! You lost!"

I returned Ralon with one hand. Carvanha was shaky; the Magical Leaves that had hit had done incredible damage. If I could land one more decent hit, it was over for Carvanha. "Not quite," I said coldly. "Remember, kirlias can see the future. On guard_._"

I tossed out a third pokéball, and Mishroo emerged, looking as surly as ever.

_I will not let Mishroo ruin this. I will _not_ play nice this time; Mishroo _will_ beat Carvanha, Ralon saw it._ This is not the end.

"Mishroo," I said quietly. He sneered at me and bristled with spores. I ignored everyone's surprised looks: _If he'd had a shroomish from the start, why did he use ralts/kirlia?_

It didn't matter that Mishroo didn't like me, or that we had issues, because this was the battlefield, and not an, in the long run, insignificant battle against some beginner trainer. It wasn't even against a gym leader. This was a fight against a criminal, against injustice, and a loss here wasn't something that could happen. Wasn't something I could ever let happen, because no matter what Norman said, I always brought my heart to the battlefield, and I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I lost it to such a cruel, undeserving trainer. I could _not_ let Mishroo lose this, even if he was more than ten levels weaker than Carvanha and hated me. My certainty, my will, was like an almost tangible power in my fist.

Mishroo faltered.

"That Pokémon's much weaker than the others," laughed Shelly, "and doesn't even listen to you. This will be simple. Ice Fang!"

Carvanha, with a harsh cry, staggered weakly forward, jaws gaping.

"Absorb!"

Mishroo lit with power, orbs of energy draining from Carvanha. Carvanha keeled over, and skidded to a slow stop centimeters from Mishroo. The ice on her fangs melted.

Shelly stood there in disbelief. "…I lost…? To a mere child?"

_I'm sixteen_, I almost said, but recognized the sulky, teenage tone to it, and so reined it in. Mishroo was glowering at Shelly and me equally; he clearly still disliked me immensely. I'd celebrate him pulling through in a tough situation later.

I advanced on Shelly, who had returned Carvanha and was staring at me. "Who are you?" she asked. "I've never seen you, never heard of you…"

I glared at her and ignored her question. "What was Aqua's goal here?" I demanded.

"We were after some machine parts and data," she said, slightly shiftily. "But that's all I'll say. Maybe we'll meet and battle again!" Shelly dashed towards a shattered window and leapt out. When I rushed to the edge and saw no broken body, I knew she was still alive. I frowned, displeased she'd gotten away.

"Golbat, Wing Attack."

I whirled around in surprise as a golbat swooped down and smacked Mishroo with a glowing wing, knocking him out instantly. Startled, I met Charlie's cocky smile. He was holding a pokéball, and he yanked the President towards him. Golbat landed on the President's shoulder, fangs dangerously close to his neck.

I snarled, returning Mishroo. "Who are you?"

"They call me the Man of a Thousand Faces," Charlie said laughingly. The President's eyes widened slightly. "I see the Prez here has heard of me. I'm Brodie of Team Magma!"

"First Team Aqua, now Team Magma? What's next, Team Flowers?" I snapped, thinking water, fire, and grass, like the starters.

His eyes narrowed. "Don't mock Team Magma. Unlike Team Aqua, we work for the greater good of the world—"

"Blah, blah, blah; let him _go_," I said sharply.

"I have to thank you for dealing with that troublesome Shelly. I also have to admit, your strength surprised me, as did your perceptiveness and cunning," he grinned. "Now, hand over the data disc or the Prez'll get it."

"Golbaaaaaat!" shrieked Golbat in agreement.

I forced myself to unclench my hands.

"Don't tell me you have yet _another_ Pokémon up your sleeve, when you'd claimed to only have two?" Brodie asked me, sounding genuinely curious. "You caught me completely off-guard with that shroomish. I hadn't pegged you as a good liar. Did you know even then I was up to something? No, never mind. I'm not going to make the mistake of giving you time to think." His grin vanished. "Hand it over. _Now_."

"Don't," said the President, "You have no idea what's on that, what Team Magma will do with it—it will be the end of the world as we know it—"

"Shut it, old man," snapped Brodie, giving him a violent shake that made his head jerk back and forth, and Golbat's fangs scrape his neck lightly.

I searched my pockets, my fingers brushing a disc. I pulled it out, ignoring the President's desperate, panicked look. "Here, but let him go first," I said, clenching the disc tightly. I remembered the terrain of the Cutter's face and fought to keep my own face still, free from knowledge.

"You're not in the position to be making the rules," Brodie sneered.

"So you know I won't break them," I returned. "Let him go." I held out my hand. Quick as lightning, Brodie snatched it from my hand, and Golbat switched shoulders as he shoved the President to the ground. "Thanks a lot, kid. Team Magma appreciates it." He ran past me, jumping out the window as Shelly had, but I saw Golbat catch him and they disappeared.

"You foolish boy," cried the President from the floor, "Have you any idea what you've just done?"

"Shut up," I snapped, "what's up with your security? It sucks! And don't just lie there, get someone to get the police! There are still Aquas here; I locked up two in a stairwell, and there are others who might not know Shelly's retreated."

I ran out, and down the stairs, to the elevator, down to the first floor, and out, making an Aqua lounging at the secretary's desk yelp in shock as I whizzed by. _Pokémon Center,_ I thought, nearly hysterical,_ Pokémon Center, Pokémon Center, Pokémon Center!_

"Oh, it's you! Am I glad! You saved me in Petalburg Woods," I heard a man yell, and I whipped around. It was the stupid Devon employee rushing towards me. "A guy like last time stole the Devon Goods from me! He was heading for Route 116, you have to get them back!"

I wanted to punch him. I'd just saved his president, who proceeded to try and chew me out, been double-crossed by someone I _knew_ was no good, and I'd let both major bad guys—Shelly and Brodie—escape out the window. And NOW he wanted me to make up for his incompetence?

"Do you have a revive?" I asked, voice strained to keep from yelling.

"Well—yes—"

"Give!" He hurried to obey, and the possessive, desperate manner I grabbed it from him was similar to Brodie only a minute before.

"I-I have another…?"

I grabbed that one from him too, and scrambled to revive Muu and Ralon—_Sorry Mishroo, they're stronger—_and caught the man by the back of his jacket as he stepped towards the Devon building. "Hey, don't go in there."

"I didn't report it the first time, but this is the second, I need to—"

"Do you know where the police are?" I cut in. He nodded. "Go to them, and tell them Devon was overrun by criminals, and they need to get their butts over there ASAP to catch the remnants." I gave him a rough shove. "Go!"

He ran, nearly tripping over himself.

I couldn't bring myself to smile at my newly revived friends, who were blinking blearily up at me. "Sorry, you deserve a break. We really should just ditch this, huh?"

Muu shook his head, and gave himself a smack, as if trying to wake himself from the stupor. Ralon gave him a helpful, healthy smack, which Muu returned twofold. Before the two could commence bickering, I ran north, returning both of them. Reaching the city limits, I turned east, to Route 116, where I had planned to train what felt like so long ago. I remembered that I could never recall the route number of this path.

I shoved my through grass and trainers until the grass thinned and I saw a cottage and solid stone. I wondered murkily what it was, but a noise caught my attention. It was a strong young man, punching at the stone angrily. "Who is he, to eject me from the tunnel like that?" the man demanded. "I must finish clearing the tunnel! There's no other way to meet with Wanda!"

"Excuse me," I said rudely, "did a man in a blue bandanna pass through here?"

The guy squinted at me. "Sure did. Went right in to Rusturf Tunnel."

Rusturf Tunnel—at the other end of that tunnel was Verdanturf, where Wally had moved. My heart jolted slightly. I'd heard Rusturf was blocked, but if the Aqua somehow got through and into Verdanturf… "Where's the entrance?" I said, one hand finding the badge in my pocket. It fit nicely into my hand now.

"Over there," he gestured vaguely, "you'll see it."

I sprinted in the direction he'd pointed and I saw an old man, crying out in anguish, "Peeko, my Peeko—"

"Out of my way!" I seethed, pushing past him and into the dark cave. It was darker than I expected, and I immediately tripped, my free hand automatically snapping out to break my fall. I got back to my feet, staggering, and ventured deeper in. I ignored the whispers and murmurs of wild Pokémon, and though my heart was beating wildly, it was mostly from the idea of the Aqua.

_Why am I doing this again?_ I wondered, slightly despairing.

I heard someone curse up ahead. I could see his outline, straining against what appeared to be a wall. Suddenly he whirled and I flinched as a flashlight beam seared my eyes.

"You!" the Aqua said in horror. "You're the guy with the ralts and marshtomp who swept us!" I couldn't see his face, but I thought there might be some fear there.

"That's right," I croaked, "so you'd better hand them over right now." I stepped closer.

"Don't! Don't come closer, or I'll…or I'll…hurt this Pokémon!"

I peered painfully at the flashlight, and saw the white bird Pokémon with a blue stripe on each wing. Where had I seen that before…? "If you think I care, you've got another thing coming," I lied through my teeth. "Hand the Goods over."

"Well then, I'll hurt it anyway," he said boldly. "It's not like it matters to you either way!"

"Stop," I said, hearing movement and unable to see what it was. It sent a bolt of fear into my stomach.

"You're all the same," he snickered. "Roll me your Pokémon and I'll release it."

"You've gotta be kidding me," I said in disbelief.

"Do I sound like it? At least this way they'll all be alright. Not something that can be said if you don't. And don't you dare let them out, you won't be able to stop me in time."

I was pissed off. I fished through my pockets, and my fingers touched pokéballs—the Aqua grunts', that I'd stolen from them. I slowly crouched and rolled them to him. I heard him toe them, making sure they were occupied. It was simple through touch to determine if a pokéball was occupied or not.

"Good," he said in satisfaction. "Now, I'll let this useless Pokémon go…" With a loud caw, the bird Pokémon eagerly escaped, flying down the tunnel and out. The Pokémon's wing beats echoed eerily. "Now, back up against the wall. Stay there…stay there…" He was confident, thinking he had me beat. As soon as he had his back to me, I released Ralon. "Confusion!"

I'm not sure what Ralon did, but suddenly all the wild Pokémon in the cave went berserk, descending on him wrathfully. I clutched at my ears, their cries seeming to physically drive stakes into my brain. Finally, when it was over, I crawled over to him. I shone the flashlight at his face.

"But you rolled me your Pokémon," he mumbled. "You have more than two?"

"The Goods, please," I said flatly. "Thank you." I took them from him, and hauled him to his feet. "No funny business."

Poking and prodding at him, we stumbled from the tunnel. I was startled when the Pokémon from before landed on my shoulder with a coo. The old man exclaimed, "You're the one who saved my Peeko from this hoodlum!"

Ah, so the Pokémon was a peeko. I nodded curtly, and since it looked like he was going to begin a teary dialogue, I said, giving the Aqua a shake, "I'd like to turn him in, so…"

"Oh, of course," the man said. "My name is Mr. Briney. I'm a sailor and a retired trainer. If you ever need anything, I live on the shore west of Petalburg—Route 104, I believe it's called. Be sure to drop by!"

Even so, Mr. Briney insisted on accompanying us to Rustboro, and took great glee in making sure the wrongdoer was given to the police. He didn't leave until he was in handcuffs, and then he was humming a merry tune with his peeko. I met up with the Devon guy and told him to take his Goods straight to the President or whoever it was that needed them, privately thinking but not saying he couldn't be trusted with them.

Exhausted, I tottered into the Pokémon Center and handed over my Pokémon. I fell asleep in the waiting room to uneasy dreams, and when Nurse Joy awoke me to give me my Pokémon and help me up to my room, I found my hand clenched around the Stone Badge. Either during my dream or during this whole terrible day, I'd clenched the Stone Badge so hard I'd cut my hand—an impressive feat, considering how blunt its corners were. I carefully washed off the blood from my hand and badge, and I clumsily tried to for the jacket and failed. There was too much important stuff in my jacket to hand it to some Joy, so, fully dressed, I collapsed onto the bed.

And then I cried, and shook violently from the stress and emotion of the day, from the relief that I had my Pokémon safe in my hands, from the highs of Muu's evolution (it felt like a different life) and beating the gym (this was an iron reality, and I didn't know what it meant anymore) to the lowest lows (Muu, Ralon, Mishroo, all so still; a black tide of despair and the haze of fear). But I'd beaten it back. I'd beaten it back, this time. Was that the important thing?

I reached into a secret pocket of my jacket, my hand touching a CD. Reassured that the Devon disc was safely hidden, I finally sunk into oblivion.

* * *

Whoo, longest chapter so far! Action-packed, too! Sorry if the battles were too awful, they're not exactly my forte, heheh… I also hope Ralon's evolution wasn't a bit of a let-down.

Special thanks to Evann for reviewing, on the first day, too! I'm glad "Muu" wasn't a flop like I was worried it would be.

Next up, Chapter Five: Chatting with the Chairman

Please, review! Muu is pouting at you, and believe me, you've never seen a true pout until you see a marshtomp's ;P

5/13/12 edit: added accents

3/30/13 edit: grammar

—xxsapphireheartxx


	5. Chapter 5: Chatting with the Chairman

Heroes of Hoenn

_Red, Gold, and now me—Steven says it's fate. I have to disagree. It's terrible, terrible, good luck. [Based on RSE]_

Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me, nor do its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Chatting with the Chairman**

* * *

"Good morning, Sapph! You need to get up; the President wants to see you. Huh? You're fully dressed… Sapph, you need to wake up. The President wants to see you!"

I buried my face in my pillow, the annoying man's voice cutting through the haziness. "Go 'way…"

"No. The _president_ wants to see you! I've heard what you did at Devon; I think the president wants to thank you, especially after you got back the Devon Goods for me!"

"…'m no' his lackey," I murmured, tasting pillow, "I'll g' when I feel li'e it. Go 'way."

"But—"

"Leave," I growled, anger evaporating the remnants of sleep, "right now. Who gave you the key to my room anyway?"

"I-it was unlocked…"

"Go away. I'll see your president later. I'm not one of his useless employees."

"Excuse—"

"Kir," groaned Ralon, and my skin prickled. I smiled, hearing the door slam. Ralon had ejected him and there was a click as he closed the lock.

"You've improved," I commented idly. That's what evolution did, after all. "We'll have to…exper'ment later."

"Llllll…"

I tiredly rolled and wriggled, pulling up the sheets and blankets from beneath me. Muu and Ralon grumbled, but moved, and we all took cover underneath.

Muu was slimy, but I smiled sleepily.

At eleven o'clock, I rejoined the land of the living. Muu was snoring lightly, but Ralon had slipped off the bed at some point and sat on my backpack (which I had carelessly dropped to the ground yesterday).

"Kirlia," he greeted me, slightly cheerful.

"Oh, great. You're a morning person," I sighed, raising my hand to run it through my hair, but encountered my bandanna. I pulled it off, probing at the line in my forehead it had left, and tossed it back on the bed. "I'm showering, and then we'll have breakfast. Then we'll either t-train," I paused to yawn, "or visit Devon's chairman. The former is more desirable, but the latter is more likely." I stopped and yawned again.

Grabbing some clothes out of my pack (Ralon moved to sit on the bed, delicate legs swinging off the edge), I showered. Upon coming out, I grimaced when I caught sight of my face.

My eyes were slightly puffy from the crying last night, but at least they weren't heavily shadowed from exhaustion. And the Amera-scratches on my cheek had healed. I touched my cheek in memory. My hair was shorter than I could ever remember it being, which was saying something because I preferred short cuts.

Despite that, there was something more, something subtle, that kept me examining myself.

I stared at myself, faintly bemused, as I realized I had been totally different yesterday morning. Yesterday morning, I'd been an inexperienced trainer, no badges, and generally more naive. "Confident" wasn't the word to describe the me of today; it was more that I knew the limits, was surer of where I stood. The girl of yesterday was May, and maybe I wasn't like May anymore._ This new trainer might as well be named Sapph_, I thought, amused.

We had an eleven-thirty brunch in the Pokémon Center cafeteria, and I was surprised when a Nurse Joy approached me. "Sapph? You have a call on the videophone."

I frowned, wondering if the president had lost patience, or if Birch was taking a random guess—but he wouldn't know "Sapph" instead of "May." I went over to the phones, and stopped short when I saw Wally's anxious face.

"Sapph! There you are," said Wally in relief. "My cousin said you'd called yesterday afternoon, but then you didn't call me in the evening like you usually do, and I was out with Ralari. So I called you and Nurse Joy said you weren't in, and you hadn't checked out—what were you doing yesterday?"

I grinned at him, reaching into my pockets. I brandished the Stone Badge proudly. "Look!"

Wally's mouth fell open. "Is that what I think it is?"

"No," I said humorously, "it's a player's piece in a game called PokéChase."

For a moment, Wally faltered. Then, "Bwah! You're pulling my leg, that's a badge!"

"Yep," I said, "right on. The Stone Badge of Rustboro."

"So you called me early 'cause you wanted to tell me you were challenging her?"

I scratched the back of my head embarrassedly. It had actually been after I'd beaten her; distracted by Muu's evolution, calling Wally beforehand hadn't even occurred to me. "No, after. Just a moment, lemme grab Muu and Ralon, and we can tell you about it!" I dashed off, hauling Muu, Ralon, and Mishroo from their meal. Mishroo had been an especially moody, dark presence during brunch—our bond during the battle seemed to have alienated him more than make him willing to be friendly. Mishroo shrilled at me and I rolled my eyes, returning him. He sure didn't like being around us, I thought with a sigh.

"They evolved," I proclaimed, showing off Muu and Ralon to Wally. "Muu's a marshtomp, and he learned a really strong move called Mud Shot. And Ralon's a kirlia, and he learned Magical Leaf."

"Whoa!" cried Wally, pressing as close to the screen as he could, before backing off. "We've gotta show Ralari. Come out!" Ralari was very surprised at the new forms of her friends. She stared at them, fascinated. "They look so much stronger now," said Wally; Muu smirked and Ralon did a mid-air twist, making the dress-like fringe about his waist whirl.

"Lia!"

"What levels are they at?" Wally asked.

"Err…" I pulled out my PokéDex. "Ralon's at twenty-one, and Muu's at twenty-two. Hey, I didn't know Muu had learned Foresight, or that Ralon had learned Lucky Chant. What's Lucky Chant?"

"…I don't know," admitted Wally, perplexed. "I bet you can ask your PokéDex."

I obliged. "It's to keep your opponent from getting critical hits on you."

"Anyway! So tell us about the battle!"

I was about to ask, "Which one?" when I realized he meant the gym battle. He didn't know anything about Devon, after all. "Well, Roxanne started with Geodude, and me with Ralon." …How did we win that battle, again? I wracked my brain. "The Geodude knew Rock Tomb, Rock Throw…I can't remember if she knew anything else. Anyway! Because she couldn't hit Ralon 'cause he was Teleporting and using Double Team and stuff—oh, Rock Polish, she knew that—Geodude used Rock Tomb on the whole field, and thus I had Ralon Teleport on top of an already existing rock. And then so Geodude used Rock Tomb to build a shield around herself to defend from Confusion, so I had Ralon Teleport in and knock her out with a close-range super Confusion. Right?" I looked at Ralon for support. It was strange, to see his eyes. They'd almost always been hidden before, but now both stared straight into my heart. Considering his empathetic abilities, it wasn't so outrageous a thought.

Ralon nodded.

"And so then she sent out a Nosepass, who I used Muu against. Err…lots of Rock Tomb action, and then she did this magnetic thing where Nosepass closed herself in a shield of rock like Geodude did, but used magnetism to control all the rocks around to attack Muu. I'm not sure how she knew where Muu was… But then I had Muu use Bide to break the Rock Tomb shield, and Muu learned Mud Shot, and also used Water Gun," I concluded.

Wally grinned, delighted. "Neither of them fainted!"

I shook my head.

"That sounds great! I bet you're going to cream the next gym, too…which gym are you going to next?"

"Ehh…where are the other gyms?" I asked, realizing I didn't know. "I guess I'll go to whichever's closest."

"Well, I know for sure there's a gym in Mauville. And there's one in Sootopolis, and Mossdeep…Fortree, too, I think… So that's Rustboro, Petalburg, Mauville, Fortree, Sootopolis, and Mossdeep—" Wally had been ticking them off on his fingers as he spoke. "Hm…that's only six. I'm missing two. Maybe there's one in Slateport? Or Lilycove…"

"So what's closest?" I asked.

"Well, if there's one in Slateport, that's your next stop. If not, then the one in Mauville."

I nodded thoughtfully, frowning a little. "So I'll need to catch a boat, no matter what I do."

"That is a problem," agreed Wally. Ralari made a slight noise, and he stroked her horn. "Well…when I lived in Petalburg, sometimes when I was on Route 104, I'd meet Mr. Briney—he gave me a ride in his boat, once. Oh, but you're from Johto, you wouldn't know of Mr. Briney," said Wally with an embarrassed laugh. "He's something of a legend—he saved a ship full of people during the worst storm in Hoenn's history. There were some really important people on board too and he was hailed as a hero."

I stared in disbelief. "That old guy, Briney—he's, like, famous?"

Wally nodded vigorously. "He's sailed all over the world! There are all sorts of stories about him, but he doesn't really like all the attention, so he went into seclusion. Lived on his boat for a while until people'd let him fade, so he could live in peace in Hoenn."

I rubbed my forehead. So this old guy who sat around when Peeko was kidnapped was considered some sort of hero? "Okay," I said, "I think I've met him, too. I saved his peeko, and he told me to come by if I ever needed anything."

"Really?" said Wally, surprised. "Maybe he's getting a little lonely, now."

For the first time, I wondered what Briney had been doing in Rustboro. Maybe he had relatives there? Petalburg was closer, so he'd probably get groceries from there…

I checked the time. "It's already almost noon, so I'll head over there tomorrow. Is Slateport more than a day's trip by boat?"

"Uh…I think so…"

"So maybe I'll head over there anyway," I conceded. "In that case, I'd better go. I have some things to do before leaving Rustboro. I probably won't be able to call tomorrow, and maybe the day after, so don't panic, okay? Concentrate on Ralari; I can see she's getting much stronger." _As are you_, I thought, looking at Wally's smooth face. He didn't look exhausted or sick, which was a big improvement; even his hair seemed a little greener. Had he stuttered at all this conversation?

He nodded. "Okay. Call me as soon as you can."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."

We hung up. I gathered my stuff together, and checked out of the Pokémon Center. I bought some medicine, and made my way to the Devon building. This time when I entered, the secretary was not alone. The sharp eyes of new security guards followed my movements as I walked up and told them I had an appointment with the president.

I endured their suspicious poking and prodding and waited while they called up the president's office to ask him. The secretary put down the phone. "He's not in," she told me, and then frowned. "You'd think he'd curb his city walks, especially right after an attack…"

Well, if the president wasn't in, I was hardly going to wait for him. I did, however, get the phone number of Devon so I could call him. Which reminded me…hadn't I promised myself I'd get a cellphone? I counted up my money as I walked, and looking at the prices of the cellphones, I grimaced. I'd have to win a lot of battles before I'd get enough for _that_ and still have cushion left for food and emergencies, but I'd have to manage to. I might as well give up on a Pokémon Navigator and just buy myself a new map, as well—PokéNavs were even more expensive than cellphones. I sighed despondently.

I turned, intending to finally leave Rustboro, when I caught sight of a familiar person. Brendan. He hadn't noticed me yet, and I quickly darted away, heart pounding. If Brendan saw me, he'd tell Birch, who'd tell Mom, who'd tell Norman. I needed to get away, fast!

"Ooooor!" cried a voice.

In Rustboro, they had very nice fountains. They had fountains with statues of people and abstract statues—but more often than the two put together, you'd see a Pokémon as the centerpiece, presumably water type. The PokéDex could hardly identify them for me, so I didn't really know any of their names—except for the chinchou and lanturn one; we had those in Johto. There was one such fountain that I didn't know the Pokémon's species nearby. It was a bird Pokémon with a humungous mouth, almost like a pouch. The size if its food must be tremendous, if it needed such a big mouth. A spout of water, slightly jittery, came from its mouth.

"Ooor! Cassss!" The voice was coming from inside the statue.

I ran over, splashing across the circular pool of water around it. "Ralon!" Ralon emerged, starting a spin but stopping in horror and shifting from foot to foot in the water, as if uncomfortable. "I think there's a Pokémon in there!"

"Caaaa!" it cried plaintively.

"It's okay," I said, "Ralon's gonna get you out with Confusion. Ralon, Confusion!"

There was a groaning creak, and in a spectacular burst of water, a small Pokémon blasted out of the statue. I lunged, catching it before it hit the ground. "Hah, gotcha." I looked over the Pokémon. Small and white with a mask-like figure eight around her eyes, she stared up at me.

"Ah! Castform!"

I looked around, seeing none other than President Stone of Devon rushing towards me. "Castform, are you alright?" he asked anxiously.

"Castform…" piped the Pokémon and I handed her to the president, who was quick to pull out a potion to spray on her.

"Thank you," he told me and then blinked. "Ah! It's you! Daven told me how you, Sapph, have been an immeasurable help to him."

"Er," I said. "Okay. You wanted to talk with me, right? What is it?"

"We should go somewhere a little more quiet," President Stone said and led me to a café. Having eaten already, I just had a glass of water. I kept Ralon out to help me get a read on the guy. So far Ralon seemed relaxed, even levitating the president's white top hat for Castform's amusement. The president wasn't malicious, then, or planning something nefarious.

"First off, I'd like to apologize for my outburst yesterday," the president began. "It was extremely rude and ungrateful of me." He paused, looking at me for a reply.

"Yeah. But you were right—I don't know anything about Team Magma or data discs or magnetics." I unzipped my jacket, searching for one of my secret pockets.

"Still," he protested, "it was terribly ungrateful, and downright cruel of me to react like that."

"Like I said, I don't claim to know anything about that stuff," I repeated, unzipping one of the pockets, "but I knew I definitely couldn't give the disc to him. So here." I held out the data disc to him.

The president looked flabbergasted. "What? You got it back from him?" He took the disc from me, looking it over. "Thank you."

"He didn't have it in the first place," I told him. "And don't thank me, thank the Cutter. He's the one who gave me that HM—which looks identical to the disc unless you look real close, I think."

Then the president began laughing. He laughed and laughed _hard_. "You had him, he who prides himself on his exceptional cunning and deceit,_ completely hoodwinked_. Ooh, that must bite for him. You be careful," he warned me, "Brodie may come after you for vengeance, but it won't be the physical kind. No, you beat him in the game of the mind—he'll try to humiliate you there as you have him. Vigilance is a must."

I leaned back slightly. "Well, I'm more confident in my brain than my battling, so that's preferable," I remarked. "As I proved yesterday, I still have a long ways to go in the latter."

"I thought your performance was impressive," said President Stone. "The strategy with Mud Shot and Torrent in particular."

My face warmed. I stuttered, wondering if I should confess. "W-well, it wasn't th-that impressive. Like, she was right—I could've done it by accident. Plus, Torrent and Muu really did most of the work. I've only just started out, after all." Thinking about Muu's ability, I realized I still didn't know what Ralon's ability was.

He stared at me. "Truly?"

I nodded. "So, inexperienced, lots of room for improvement."

He was giving me an assessing look, but Ralon wasn't acting up, so I presumed it was innocent as he recalibrated his mind. "After you've done so much for us, I hate to ask a favor," he said slowly.

"I haven't done anything for you," I cut in irritably.

Now he sent me an incredulous look. "You saved my company from the grips of criminals, as well as kept critical information out of Brodie's hands and defeated a powerful, influential woman who has been a trainer for longer than you've been capable of speech, saved my castform from the fountain, protected one of my employees in Petalburg Woods, retrieved the Goods—"

By now I was a dark red from embarrassment. "I didn't do any of that for you," I snapped. "I took on Aqua because it was good training. Muu and Ralon both must've grown five levels, and Ralon evolved and learned Magical Leaf. The guy in the Woods was irritating, and I wasn't about to let an Aqua get away after what their leader did to Muu and Ralon. And what was I to do, leave Castform to drown in the fountain?" By the end of this, President Stone looked amused rather than subdued, like I had hoped he would.

"Of course," he said, "How could I have ever thought you'd done it for any other reasons?" He was smiling, eyes twinkling.

I glared at him mulishly, getting to my feet. "Ralon—"

"Settle down, now. Could you deliver the Goods you recovered to Captain Stern in Slateport? I trust you to be able to get them there safely." He slid the Goods across the table.

I eyed them in dislike. They seemed like more trouble than they were worth. "I'll be passing through Slateport anyway, so fine. Anything else?" _Like Shelly delivered right to your lap, or a cup of coffee?_

"I'd like for you to deliver a letter to Steven," said President Stone, pulling a thick envelope from a pocket of his expensive suit, and handed it to me.

I frowned slightly, accepting it. Steven? My mind automatically flashed back to the warm smile and helpful Steven who'd gotten Muu to evolve for me. He _had_ been wearing a suit then; was he associated with Devon? "What?"

"My son, Steven," clarified President Stone. "I'm sorry, I forgot you aren't from Hoenn."

I nodded absently, before freezing. "What?"

"You're not from Hoenn, are you." It wasn't really a question.

"How'd you know?" I asked suspiciously, looking over at Ralon. He was watching us idly, but not worried or tense.

"It's just in the way you act and speak, and how you have to look up even the most common or well-known Pokémon native to Hoenn on your PokéDex." He gave me a kind smile. "By the way, welcome to Hoenn. When did you come?"

"Just about week ago," I said.

President Stone got a confused frown. "A week…? When did you get your Pokémon?"

What had I told Steven? I'd found Muu, and I was borrowing the PokéDex, right? "Muu a week and a day ago, and Ralon a week ago," I said after making sure it didn't conflict with what I'd already said. "Oh, and Mishroo…the same day as Ralon?"

"They're very attached for so short a time," President Stone said. "I think you would get along well with my son."

"Yeah, about him," I said. "He doesn't happen to have a metal bird Pokémon, does he?"

"Skarmory?" asked the president in surprise. "He does, actually. Why?"

I pulled out my PokéDex, looking up Skarmory. The image matched the Pokémon I'd seen perfectly, and belatedly I remembered skarmory. A steel/flying type, they could be found in Johto, too. I stared at the picture contemplatively.

_It's really cool…_

"I think I might've met him, just before I went to Devon," I informed the president. "He's tall? He was wearing a black suit with purple zigzags on it, I think… Gray hair? Uh…" I tried to remember the color of his eyes.

"That sounds like him, yes," confirmed President Stone. "That purple zigzag suit is one of his favorites."

"Mm-hm," I said, taking special note his own suit was distinctly purplish as well. Physically, they didn't share much. The shapes of their faces were completely different, the chairman's being more squarish, and I was certain that while I couldn't remember what color eyes Steven had, they were not the slate gray of the president's. "Where is Steven?"

"Well, I'm not sure," President Stone admitted. "My son has a passion for rare stones, and travels all over Hoenn searching for them. I've tried to contact him, but the caves he frequents tend to cut off communication."

"Soo…how am I supposed to find him?"

"I was going to give you his PokéNav number so you could call him every day, and when he finally emerges from his cave, he can meet up with you," the president explained.

"Two problems with that. If we're going to do it like that, then he might as well come back to Rustboro. Two, I don't have a cellphone or anything, so if I'm not in a city I won't be able to call him."

President Stone grinned. "Ah, as to the second, I was intending to give you this." From a pocket, he pulled a small device. "It's a—"

"Pokémon Navigator!" I cried in surprise. Sitting in the palm of his hand was the offer of a free cellphone, an up-to-date map that could pinpoint my exact GPS position, and full of data on cities—like if they had gyms—and where all the minor towns are, which would make good stops on the way to major cities.

"Or PokéNav for short," he concluded. Unlike the PokéNavs I'd ogled behind the glass counter, instead of a standard yellow, it was a sleek black and gray, and looked extremely cool and advanced. "And the first, I'm going to be very busy dealing with the aftermath of the invasion, and there are reasons I'd prefer for Steven to be out of sight for now. So, will you do this thing for me?"

I nodded furiously. The president laughed at my sudden enthusiasm and handed me the new PokéNav. "We've been taking a leaf out of the other regions' book," he confided in me. "This is the next brand of PokéNav coming out. Like Kanto and Johto's PokéGear, it has a radio system, and like the Sinnoh Pokétech, it can be updated with various programs, which I've taken the privilege of loading onto yours already."

"Thanks," I said, wide-eyed and flipping open the PokéNav.

"It has a clip to easily attach to your belt or backpack," continued President Stone, "and as long as you don't go on any ocean-floor expeditions, it's waterproof. It's also tough enough it won't break from a reasonable fall." He handed me a pair of wireless ear buds. "To listen to the radio with," he explained. "See that button there?"

I nodded. He was pointing to a red button along the side. It was positioned so the PokéNav wouldn't have to be open to be pressed.

"That's the emergency button. Press it firmly twice in quick succession, and it will send out an emergency signal, and broadcast your location."

"Okay," I said. "I understand."

"What else…?" President Stone mused. "I've already entered Steven's number for you, as well as my own. I've also registered your PokéNav. It's relatively simple to operate, but if you want me to explain—"

"No, I think I can figure it out," I interrupted. "Thank you. Th…this is awesome. And it knows which cities have gyms and stuff?"

The president nodded. "It only has knowledge of Hoenn so far, so you can't use it as a map outside of Hoenn, but you can use its other features."

"Amazing. I'll definitely deliver your letter, President," I promised. I knew that while using this to get in contact with Steven was one of his objectives, he went far beyond the adequate to thank me for my role in the Aqua crisis yesterday. Still, having one before it was even in circulation, for free, seemed like a bit much.

"You're welcome, Sapph," he said comfortably. "And, please, call me Mr. Stewart, or Mr. Stone if you must.

"Alright," I agreed. "But I gotta go, I was intending to ask Mr. Briney if he'd give me a ride to Slateport, and I figure the sooner the better?"

"Briney?" repeated Stone in surprise.

"He was having Aqua problems," I said, feeling warm enough towards him to tell him. "One had kidnapped his peeko. I got her and the Devon Goods back from him, and we turned the thief into the police."

Strangely somber, Stone told me, "You've made enemies of both Aqua and Magma. Be very careful, young man."

"I will, but I gotta scram," I responded, remembering Brendan. "Hey, can I ask you for something?"

"Anything."

"If anyone comes along looking for me, or anyone kinda like me, don't tell'em. I never was here, 'kay?"

Stone slowly nodded. "Yes…to get away from Aqua and Magma, perhaps you should disappear. Especially as you won't be taking a standard boat out of here…"

"But I mean _any_one," I persisted. "Even if they tell you I'm their friend or whatnot. I don't care if it's Professor Birch, a gym leader, or the Champion themselves—no telling about me."

At first the president looked amused, but then he gave me a penetrating look. "Very well," he agreed, "but it will be impossible to conceal the fact an outsider was the one who saved us. I will not tell anyone your name or description."

I nodded. "Thanks. I'm off now. Bye! C'mon, Ralon! We've gotta go through Petalburg Woods!"

"Good luck," the president called, and I ran from the establishment, and right into the Devon guy—Daven, had Stone called him?

"Ah—I wanted to thank you—"

I nearly rolled my eyes, but settled for a sighed, "Save your breath."

"—and also, is it true? Do you have a shroomish?"

Figures he'd be interested in Mishroo. "Yeah."

"May I see it?"

"He's unfriendly," I warned him, but let Mishroo out. Mishroo glared at me.

"Wonderful~!" said the man, delighted, and his eyes were watering. If it was from joy or the spores Mishroo was already letting off, I wasn't sure. "I would like to propose a trade."

"A trade? Like, of Pokémon?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yes!" He pulled out a pokéball. "I didn't have him with me before, but…" he let out the Pokémon; a Pokémon I recognized very well. "Chikorita are very rare. Mine seems to be restless, so I thought it would be a good idea to give him to a trainer."

I crouched down to say hi, inhaling the fresh, clean scent Chikorita gave off. Hm…fresh smell…clean air…

_"Clean air is good for me, so I'm being sent to Verdanturf to live with my aunt and uncle."_

I jerked up in surprise, eyes widening. Of course! Wally! A chikorita would be perfect for him! Maybe even with one around, he could travel if he wanted to!

I looked at Chikorita, much more carefully this time. He met my eyes fearlessly, not at all nervous under my scrutiny. Ralon took a good look at him as well, and gave an approving spin.

I looked at Mishroo. "Whaddya think, Mishroo? You want to stay in Rustboro with this guy?" I looked at Devon—Daven, I corrected myself. He had struck me as a well-intentioned guy who wasn't careful enough to think everything through and did things more on whim than by planning. Ralon didn't think he was a bad person.

But still…I'd never really gotten along with Mishroo. Trading him away would solve that problem, but…it felt like I was just giving up, like he was too troublesome for me to deal with. Thinking about it gave me a guilty twist in my stomach, and I wished I'd made more progress with Mishroo, especially since there was a chance we might not see each other again, if I went through with this.

Mishroo looked at me angrily, and then consideringly at Daven, who eagerly laid himself flat on the sidewalk to be face-to-face with Mishroo. Mishroo made a noise like a fart and hopped onto his head, startling him into laughter.

"…Is that a yes?" I asked, inwardly astonished at Mishroo's actions.

Mishroo sneered at me, no longer tensed and ready to use Stun Spore.

Daven stood carefully, a boyish grin on his face. "Here's Chikorita's ball. I promise I'll be a good friend to him…Mishroo, you said?"

"Well, you don't have to call him that," I said blankly, accepting Chikorita's ball and giving him Mishroo's. "And you'd better, or else I'll beat you like I did Team Aqua."

"No need to worry! Oh no, I'm late for my meeting! Goodbye, Sapph! We'll meet again!" He ran off as fast as he could without dislodging Mishroo, which was as fast as a crawl. Feeling like this wasn't real, I looked down at Chikorita. "I'm Sapph, him there is Ralon." I pulled out Muu, releasing him. "This is Muu. Guys, this is Chikorita. He's going to be with us until we get to Verdanturf." Returning Muu and Ralon, I explained to Chikorita, "I've a friend who's sick, and clean air helps him or something. I think he'll really like you, and you him."

"Chikor?"

"Yeah, we gotta go. This way!"

* * *

The shortest chapter so far. Goodbye to Mishroo…but hello to a new, pure-hearted (temporary) companion with a bit of a problem: Chikorita!

Next is Chapter 6: Dawdling at Dewford.

Please, review! They help me defy my mother's back-to-school shopping madness, and find time to edit upcoming chapters!

8/23/12 edit: Added accents to Pokémon, PokéNav, etc

—xxsapphireheartxx


	6. Chapter 6: Dawdling at Dewford

Heroes of Hoenn

_Red, Gold, and now me—Steven says it's fate. I have to disagree. It's terrible, terrible, good luck. [Based on RSE]_

Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me, nor do its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Dawdling at Dewford**

* * *

It was about two o'clock when I found that cottage on the beach. Exhausted, Chikorita had returned to his pokéball and now Muu walked at my side, looking a bit excited at the sight of the ocean.

"Go ahead," I told him, and watched him hurry towards the waves. Marshtomps liked mud better than water, right? I'd have to find somewhere and sometime for him to train in mud. Slightly distracted, I knocked on the door of the house. A few moments later, Mr. Briney opened it.

"Ahoy there," he greeted me. "Look who it is, Peeko!"

I managed a smile for them. "Can you give me a ride to Slateport?"

"Of course, laddie. We were just in the mood for a trip!" exclaimed Mr. Briney. "Let's head out!"

"Don't you need to get anything?" I asked, surprised at his speedy reply.

"I keep supplies and things I'll need on the ship. All I need to bring with me to the ship is myself and Peeko!"

We loaded into the boat and took off. We were going too fast for Muu to keep up with while swimming, so I returned him and then let him out on the deck. I let out the rest of my Pokémon. We could hardly train, so they got to relax. Muu hung off the side, watching the ever-moving waves, and Ralon began to put together what looked like a dance routine. Chikorita sat against wall, not saying or doing much with a strange expression on his face. It wasn't until he vomited that I realized why, and I quickly returned him to hopefully relieve him of the seasickness.

Up until that point, I'd been doing fine. But then I started to feel a bit ill myself, and retreated to a cabin Mr. Briney told me I was to sleep in. I messed around with the PokéNav for a few minutes before figuring out how to call someone.

By now I had memorized Wally's number and it didn't take me long to figure out how to designate a contact and enter information on them. I fiddled with it for a bit before managing to work out the radio function, which could either play to the ear buds or aloud. I chose aloud, and listened to the weather report in Petalburg; they were expecting clear skies for the next few days, which was good for our travels.

I surfed the channels until I came across Professor Oak's Pokémon Talk. _Even in Hoenn it's broadcasted?_ I thought, both bemused and comforted. I settled down on the bed to listen.

We had a frugal dinner at about six-thirty, me feeling very relaxed after having the afternoon to myself. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't really had any alone time since running away from home. After dinner, I sat on the deck and watched the dance Ralon had invented earlier, clapping when he took a flourishing bow. He seemed to have lost any shyness or self-consciousness he'd had, but if it was because he had evolved or because he was used to me and Muu, I didn't know.

Remembering my thoughts earlier, I checked his ability using my PokéDex. He had Trace, an ability that copied the opponent's. It was an entirely situational ability; it had the potential to be very useful or nearly useless. For example, if Ralon were facing Muu, he'd have the ability Torrent—but would have no use for it, since he didn't have any water-type moves. Now, if Ralon were facing a vulpix with Flash Fire…he'd render all its fire-type moves pointless.

I also checked Chikorita's ability: Overgrow. It was just like Torrent, except it powered up grass-type moves instead of water-type moves in a pinch. A "pinch" was defined as having less than or equal to a third of your total HP remaining.

Sitting on the deck, with the waves lapping about and my mild seasickness gone, I remembered the Bullet Seed Mishroo had turned down, and offered it to Chikorita. He accepted eagerly, and I set up some empty cans for target practice.

Ralon, Muu, and I were horrified by Chikorita's _dreadful_ aim. We all coached Chikorita until I declared bedtime, and continued the next morning.

Unfortunately, Chikorita's accuracy hadn't improved much, and during a game of hide-and-seek, he managed to put a Bullet Seed through the motor of the boat (which at least said something for his power). It more than a little my fault, since I didn't make the area off-limits. Mr. Briney assured me it was fixable, but just needed some time, and fortunately we were near a small island called Dewford we could stop at. He sent out Peeko for help, and before long a surfing blue-haired man appeared with a yellow Pokémon.

"In a spot of trouble?" the guy asked, Peeko fluttering about his head. The letter that had been painstakingly tied to her talon was gone. "We'll drag you back."

I eyed him doubtfully. His Pokémon looked like it was built for strength, but it was short and relatively small, and I didn't think he could pull it off. Muu leapt into the water to help pull.

When Mr. Briney complied easily, throwing a sturdy cable out to them, I got out my PokéDex.

"Makuhita, the Guts Pokémon. It loves to toughen up its body above all else. If you hear quaking rumbles in a cave, it is the sound of Makuhita undertaking strenuous training."

Between Makuhita and Muu, we were hauled to a dock at a small beach town in quick time, and Mr. Briney anchored the ship, bidding thanks to the trainer and his makuhita before they surfed off.

"When do you think the ship will be ready?" I asked him anxiously.

"Somewhere between five and six days," said Mr. Briney, unperturbed by this setback. "Give or take a little. Go and train, lad. You might want to challenge the gym here."

"Gym?" I asked. "There's a gym here?" I reassessed the sleepy town and swaying palms shore.

Mr. Briney chuckled. "You just met its leader, Brawly."

"Oh," I said, feeling rather foolish. "We may need to stay here longer than that, then."

"Take your time, I'm in no hurry. Dewford's beaches are a balm for the soul." He winked. "And the eyes!"

"Right," I said uneasily, _not_ wanting to be drawn into a conversation about girls, especially with an _old_ man. "I'll head off, then. Sorry again, Mr. Briney!" I ran into town. There were no sidewalks and I thought was probably the only person wearing sneakers on the entire island. Everyone else was either barefoot or with sandals. As if my sneakers weren't enough to label me as an outsider, my jacket in this hot, sunny weather did, and my skin paled next to their tans.

I fumbled with my PokéNav for a few moments while sitting in the Pokémon Center before I figured out how to use the map function. According to my super-awesome device, Dewford Town was situated in the rough middle of the island; I could head east or west to train. I decided west, because there was a Granite Cave there. A cave would be a good place to train not using our eyes—it was more me who needed that training, though.

I also decided to call Wally; in the chaos of training Chikorita, I'd forgotten to last night. He was usually busy, presumably training Ralari, during the day, but I figured I'd try my luck.

As I sat listening to the phone ring, a couple of bikini-clad teenagers collapsed at a nearby table, giggling among themselves.

"He's _so_ hot."

"Hotter than Brawly!"

"He's the aloof, handsome, and tall type…"

"Definitely dreamy…if only he'd agreed to swim with us. I wanted to see him in swim trunks!" They dissolved into hapless giggles again.

"Hello?" answered Wanda, Wally's cousin.

"Hey, it's just Sapph checking in. Wally's out, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up with a sigh, lounging back. I was sweltering hot in my jacket so I pulled it off, tying it around my waist. I was wearing a simple (ugh, black) T-shirt underneath, as well as my standard jeans.

"C'mon," I said, fanning myself slightly, "Let's move out to that cave. It should be cooler there, right?" As we set off, it occurred to me Steven might by out of _his_ cave by now. I unclipped my PokéNav, selected Steven's name, and put it to my ear. There was a long moment of silence, and then an automated voice informed me that that number was unavailable at the moment. I shrugged. He'd have to come out sometime—unless he was in trouble, like, trapped beneath a boulder…unconscious…attacked by Aqua goons who destroyed his Nav…

I shook it off. If _I_ could defeat Aqua, Steven wouldn't have to even try hard. Probably.

My first battle was against a fisherman who desperately needed to use the bathroom. When I suggested he just do it in the ocean, he looked horrified, like it would be some terrible sacrilege, and refused to talk with me after that. He shifted from foot to foot, eyes glued on his rod as he awaited his catch.

Since I was hardly going to sit there and mind his rod while he ran back to Dewford to piss, I moved on. The next trainer, also a fisherman, had more Pokémon than Ned (the bathroom fisherman) had, but they were lower-leveled, and two of them were magikarp. As he was handing over the reward (400 pokedollars; he was stingier than Ned) he asked for my PokéNav number so that we could battle again.

Surprised, but not really seeing a reason to refuse, I agreed, and we registered each other. In each contact, there was a space you could make a note, and in that space I put _Magikarp, Tentacool, Magikarp_.

We reached the cave, and when I entered, a hiker-man who reminded me a bit of a makuhita in that he was short and stout with round cheeks and squinted eyes saw me, and walked over. "This first floor is illuminated by lights," he said, gesturing around at the equidistant electric lights, "but the floors below this are dark. If you want to go there, you need Flash and the Knuckle Badge. Here, I have a Flash on me—hikers always help fellow trainers!"

"Thanks?" I said, and he nodded, pleased, and ambled out.

I stowed the HM in my backpack, since my jacket was around my waist, anyway. "C'mon, let's head to those dark floors he talked about." It didn't take me long to run into a Pokémon, which was a zubat. Muu defeated it with Water Gun and we found a ladder leading downwards into pitch darkness. "You'll be able to find the exit, right?" I asked Muu uneasily, because I definitely wouldn't.

"Mar!" said Muu firmly.

"And if you can't, Ralon can just Teleport us out," I rationalized, relieved. I liked that option much better. "Okay, then, let's get crackin'!"

Fighting in total darkness was peculiar to me, and more than a bit frightening at first. Especially when a strange, small Pokémon called Aron attacked us from behind. Fortunately, Mud Shot knocked it out before it could do much. All the same, I let out Ralon as well, and warned them against accidentally attacking each other.

Down in the dark tunnels, our trust was tested, and we passed. Ralon and Muu, already having forged something of a team style fighting Aquas, slipped easily into the roles of a double battle and protecting me from the wild Pokémon—and in particular, myself. I tripped and managed to go tumbling down a hole. Only my hand, instinctively flying out and grabbing the ladder on sheer instinct and blind luck, saved me a broken nose at best, and a snapped neck at worst. My scream had been so loud it was still echoing minutes after the fact.

Unable to rely on sight, I began to notice sounds and smells more, and I could tell if Muu was using Water Gun or Mud Shot or when Ralon was using Confusion. It was a very different way to learn my Pokémon's moves, and I was distinctly pleased with myself, even telling Muu and Ralon to use whatever moves they liked so that I'd try to guess what they were using.

The only one I couldn't identify was Double Team; even Teleport gave me a faint prickle like Confusion did.

We managed to defeat all the opponents in there, except for one elusive one that knew Teleport. There was one especially hard wild Pokémon—I was sure it must've been dark-type, because Confusion seemed to do nothing against it. It was during that fight, all of us so caught up in it, that when we beat it I gave a reckless leap of joy—and crashed to the ground, my ankle burning. I'd twisted it. A little. I clenched a smooth rock my fingers had closed around as I swallowed some agonized moaning and cursing.

"Sorry, guys," I said ruefully, wincing. "Training in here's really fun…we should come back again."

"Lia, kir kir," said Ralon urgently, and Muu tensed. First, I smelled a sickly sweet cloud overtake us. Then I heard the rumble, the stamp of many feet, and an enraged cry of, "MAAAAAAWILE!"

"Mud Shot!" I shouted rashly. "Double Team, Confusion! Don't bring down the ceiling on us, so be careful! Don't even mess with the stalactites! Stalagtites! Whatever they are! Don't Teleport around, cover each other's backs!" I sat there, issuing new orders as they occurred to me and gripping the rock. Eventually, there were only the sounds of me, Muu, and Ralon breathing harshly.

"Good job," I said. "Now, let's—"

"Kir," warned Ralon.

A flashlight shone at me. "Are you alright? I heard the mawile, and earlier we thought we'd heard a scream…"

I squinted, trying to see the flashlight's holder, reminded uncomfortably of Rusturf Tunnel. "Yeah, I'm good."

The figure crouched, "You seem to have injured your ankle."

"It's nothing serious," I said dismissively.

"Here, I'll help you out—"

"Actually, I was going to have Ralon Teleport me. Ralon's my kirlia. So, unless you're lost and looking for a ride…" I hoped he'd take the hint and leave.

There was a long pause, and the flashlight turned off. I tensed, lifting my hand holding the rock slightly and opening my mouth to tell Ralon to Confusion the creep away—when a lantern lit, its light much softer on the eyes, and illuminating his face.

"Ste—Mr. Stone?" I asked, belatedly realizing that I recognized his voice after seeing his face, and figuring I'd better be respectful if he was some important Devon person.

"…Sapph," he said, either taking a few moments to recognize me or recall my name. "What are you…? Ah—you must be here training to challenge Brawly. I take it your battle with Roxanne went favorably?"

I nodded. "The badge's in my pocket," I confirmed. "I also have a letter for you, from your father."

"That can wait. Let's get out, first. Your ralts evolved, huh? That was fast…"

I returned Muu. "Ralon, Teleport us out of here."

In a flash we were blinking in the strong sunlight outside of the Pokémon Center. I was still sitting on the ground, and when I jumped to my feet, my ankle gave out. Steven grabbed my arm, and helped me indoors, and a Nurse Joy fetched some ice. I stuffed the smooth rock into my jeans pocket.

I rifled through my backpack—the Goods were there, too, instead of in my pockets—and found the letter for Steven, slightly crumpled, but unstained and legible. I gave the envelope to him and he read it while we waited for Nurse Joy to return.

Due to the glances Steven shot me once or twice, I had the paranoid feeling the letter mentioned me. Actually, more than mentioned. After all, President had written that before he'd made his promise not to tell anyone about me, and the letter was probably about the invasion.

Finally, Steven folded the letter and put it in his pocket. Unlike the fancy suit of before, he was wearing an orange long-sleeved shirt with a green vest over it, and khaki pants. It somehow fit his tousled hair perfectly, much better than the suit. There was a smudge of dirt below his left eye.

As Steven met my eyes, I noticed he had teal eyes. _The eye color mystery is solved._ "You've been busy," he remarked. What an understatement.

I shrugged minimally, and the upcoming conversation was diverted with Nurse Joy's fussy return. She had leapt on the chance to treat me, even arguing with the other nurses for the honor, but now that she was taking her sweet time wrapping my ankle with ice. She seemed more interested in talking with Steven than her job…

My eye twitched. Oh, great. An unprofessional nurse. At least my ankle wasn't badly hurt, as she was rather distracted. I sighed, and cleared my throat, startling the chattering nurse. "If you're done," I said, gesturing at her hands which were now picking absently at the edges of the bandage, "I'm leaving." I got to my feet, hiding a wince. Ralon gave me a look anyway. It appears there's a bad side to having a psychic, emotion-sensing Pokémon…

Steven stood as well. "Alright." He followed Ralon and me out the door, not saying anything. Instead of heading west, I turned east. I didn't allow myself to head for the beach, instead tackling the wilderness, intent on training Ralon and Muu.

I was battling a taillow with Muu when Steven spoke.

"Thank you."

I looked back at him, startled. I awkwardly hedged, not wanting to assume. "Uh, I'm sure you could've gotten outta the cave on your own…"

Steven shook his head. "Not that. For Devon. Things did not go as badly as they could've had you not been there. Injuries were minimal, only a few Pokémon were stolen, and many Team Aqua members were caught."

"I just freed the trapped people, and they took on the majority of Aqua. I got lucky I wasn't taken out during the initial sweep." I shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't even beat that woman, Shelly, in a fair fight, so I'm really not sure…only the thing with Brodie is what I can claim…"

"I seem to have been misinformed," said Steven with a confused frown. "You didn't beat Shelly?"

"Well…kind of. She won the two-on-two battle, but I sent out a third Pokémon. So I beat her, but it's not a real win, I guess." I looked at the ground, and then my head snapped up as Muu yelped in pain as Taillow scored a hit. "Water Gun."

Steven waited until we knocked out Taillow before speaking again. "I'm sorry, but can you tell me everything Brodie said while you were with him? It will be invaluable for my investigation."

"Well," I said, pretending to be searching for another opponent as I gathered my thoughts, "When I first met him he was in the disguise of a scientist, and trapped with all the employees. When I broke them out, he was helpful, and said he could show me to the President's office. He asked me something about climbing out through windows to infiltrate the top floor, since the entrance would be guarded…"

There was a small green Pokémon poking around over there. "Mud Shot. Err, anyway, up some stairs and he told me there was important data in those computers, and I needed to get it outta Aqua's hands."

The Pokémon had yelled in surprise when Mud Shot hit it, and gave a poisonous-looking belch. "Duck behind that tree! …I agreed and crashed, fought the Aquas in there… I saw Ralon really didn't like Brodie, and when he took the disc from the guy there and told me to destroy the computer, I got suspicious. Mud Shot, again!" The story slid out disjointed, in pieces between commands, and I would be surprised if Steven understood any of it.

"And then, right after you beat Shelly, he took Father hostage and demanded the disc," said Steven.

I frowned at that, but only said, "Yeah." It occurred to me Steven didn't know about me tricking Brodie. "But I didn't give it to him. I gave him the HM Cut, and he ran off it with." I turned, anticipating a small smile at least, but Steven was looking at me seriously.

"You made a dangerous enemy," he said at last. "But there would be greater danger if that data had fallen into Magma's hands."

I shifted uncomfortably. "Yuh-huh."

"When you beat Brawly"—my eyebrows jumped, _When?—_"you're traveling to Slateport City to deliver the Devon Goods, correct?" I nodded. "I, too, am leaving for Slateport soon. If our departures coincide, we might be able to go together?"

I nodded again, but my mind darted back to his solemn expression, "_You've made a dangerous enemy_." I was pretty sure there wasn't going to be an 'if' about us traveling together. _I'm in possession of these Devon Goods, after all. What's so special about them? And why doesn't Steven just take them, anyway, if he's going to Slateport?_

"I'm here for five days," I said aloud. "There was an…uhh…_accident_ on board, and our motor was damaged. Mr. Briney said it'll take at least five days to fix. Maybe six."

Steven nodded slowly. "Alright. …I have a feeling I'll be here for another five days as well. But before I return to Granite Cave"—oh yeah, of course he'd be in there; why had I gotten the impression otherwise…?—"I'd like to see your Pokémon properly." I blinked at him.

"Sure," I said, letting out Ralon and Chikorita. They joined Muu and stared up at Steven curiously. He crouched down, inspecting each carefully.

"They've grown so much since a few days ago," said Steven, and though his tone was warm, there was a bit of a frown creasing his forehead. I felt nervous. Was I pushing them too hard? "Is the chikorita new?" He held out his hand, a gently curved palm, and Chikorita sniffed delicately at his fingers.

"Yeah, just got him yesterday morning in a trade." I watched Chikorita butt his hand approvingly with his head, leaf crinkling. Ralon gave a twirl. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Now Steven looked at me. "Do what?"

"You know…just…" I gestured vaguely, wiggling my fingers, "and then boom, they like you." I rubbed the back of my sweaty neck. "It looks like magic. Is that something I can learn?"

Steven gave a surprised chuckle. "Like magic? No, there's not really a trick to it or anything. Pokémon simply like me." He smiled affectionately at Muu.

Several reactions occurred to me. I could go for the embarrassing, "I can see why," the jealous or wry, "I see that," the confused (hurt), "And they don't me?", or the joking, "I can't understand why." The latter slipped from my lips.

Steven's eyebrows shot up, and he turned to look at me.

"After all, what could they possibly see in you that even compares to my incomparable intellect, incredible battling skills, stunning looks, and sense of humor?" I exclaimed, sticking my nose in the air and grinning.

"I'm not sure," said Steven gravely. "I think it may be your hair."

I paused, looking at him incredulously. "Excuse me? Like you're one to talk!" I said, pointing an accusing finger at his messy head. "Your hair looks like a lawn that hasn't been mowed for years!"

"I just had a haircut a few weeks ago, my hair looks fine. Yours, though…did a blind man cut it?"

Nurse Joy had done her best to fix my atrocious job, but apparently, not even her divine skills could make up for my awful ones. I flushed, and one of his eyebrows inched higher. "Did you do that yourself? If you were going for the look of an asylum escapee, you hit it right on the nail."

"Shut up!" I snapped. "Your hair is _gray!_"

"As a matter of fact, it's _silver_," said Steven, "and at least it's unique."

"Everyone gets gray hair at one point or another, so it's hardly _unique_. Mine happens to be a lovely shade of hazel, which cannot be said for yours—the brown, I mean; loveliness is too obviously beyond yours."

"There are many people who disagree with your assessment."

I scoffed. "Mm, I bet it was all old ladies who told you that, huh? With hair the same color as yours, huh. If anyone younger than a granny told you that, they were being tactful."

Steven ran an exasperated hand through his hair, ruffling it further, and it made him seem much younger than the serious Aqua talk had made him out to be. "Then we both seem to have no grounds on which to stake our argument. I, apparently, have a bad hair color, and you have a horrible haircut. Even?"

I reluctantly agreed, "For now. I'll totally prove my hair better when I beat Brawly's butt!"

Steven gave an amused huff. "How does that have to do with the price of boarding in Slateport?"

"Huh?"

"Exactly."

I laughed sheepishly. Catching sight of a wild Pokémon flashing by, I exclaimed, "We gotta train! We only have about five days, after all, and we don't wanna keep you from your rocks. Chika, you need to work on your aim—Ralon, you need to level up—Chika does too, but only _after_ you can hit your targets, 'cause how're you gonna win a fight if you can't hit the opponent? Muu, err, we're gonna work on your Mud Shot attack. I think we can make it stronger than it is…" I trailed off. "What?"

Steven shook his head, the faint smile curling his lips gone at once. "Nothing. I'm off, then." Patting each of my Pokémon encouragingly on the head, he left, calling, "Maybe if Muu can Mud Shot your head, it'll fix your haircut!"

"Bullet Seed his butt!" I shouted, indignant, but Chika missed, of course. I sighed, saying loudly, "With such a large target, you definitely need some practice." If Steven had heard me, there was no comeback. I shrugged. "So, change of plans. Ralon and Muu, practice your combo moves. There was definitely raw talent in Granite Cave, but now, out of the dark, see if you can refine it. _We're_ working on your accuracy."

Chika—and I wondered bemusedly when, exactly, he'd become Chika—nodded, leaf lifting in determination.

* * *

We practiced on the beach, where I could easily flit from Ralon and Muu to Chika—throwing smart comments at the former, and useless advice at the latter (much to my frustration). I'd become so accustomed to training with Pokémon who could hit targets with their eyes closed that I had no idea how to help Chika except through brute force: try and try again. It was a distinct insult to my mind, and I vowed to ask around for help. Steven or a Nurse Joy should be able to help—though maybe not the one who had bandaged my ankle.

I flopped onto my back in the sand, glaring at the dusky sky. We'd tried moves other than Bullet Seed—Tackle, Razor Leaf, but I didn't quite dare a PoisonPowder—and Tackle was the only move that would hit a stationary target, and it tended to miss a moving one. I closed my eyes, and groaned. I was about ready to call quits for dinner and do a little accuracy research.

"WAAAA-HOOOOOOO!"

My eyes snapped open, and my first thought was that I'd fallen asleep and was dreaming—when the wave crashed down, filling my mouth with salt water as I gagged and choked. A hand grabbed my shoulder.

"Whoa, there."

I squinted, and recognized Brawly, the gym leader. A breeze whispered against my wet skin, and I shivered.

_Wait a moment, I'm wet!_ I frantically grabbed the hem of my T-shirt, pulling it away from my chest, and looked wide-eyed at Brawly. It was unlikely, I was flat, but had he noticed…? I wrung out the T-shirt, as if that was why I had pulled it away.

Brawly gave me an easy grin. "Not quite expecting that, yeh? I recognize you—you were on ol' Briney's boat earlier today. I'm Brawly, this town's gym leader. What's your name?"

"Sapph." I still held my shirt away from my body, and I looked around for my Pokémon. They were all nearby, and had halted their training. At my glance, they came over.

"I saw you training. You seemed to be having some trouble, yeh. Say we help, yeh, Makuhita?" He swung his surfboard into the sand, wedging it in so it would stand on its own.

"Er, okay. Ralon and Muu are good, but Chika's having trouble with accuracy…I just got him yesterday…"

"Well, let's see. Little guy, go ahead, try to hit Makuhita there. Makuhita, don't move. Yeh?" he asked as Chika and I stared at him.

"Nothing. Chika, go ahead. Show'im what you've got. Bullet Seed!"

Chika reared up, opening his mouth to shoot glowing yellow seeds well to the left of Makuhita, forcing Brawly and me to jump out of the way. I flushed slightly.

"Yeh, I know the problem."

"You do?" I perked up, my fingers pausing at picking at the hem of my shirt. "What is it?"

"Most trainers underestimate balance. They just think as long as their Pokémon can stay on their feet, balance is fine. They don't realize how much balance impacts every aspect of battle—the swiftness of reaction, the power of an attack, the _accuracy_ of an attack. You catching my drift?"

"So I should have Chika do exercises in balance?" I asked, mind briefly remembering my trip-the-enemy strategy. "Like, walking on a balance beam?"

"You can start him on that, but he'll need better balance than beam-level balance." Brawly was grinning.

I eyed him suspiciously. "And what is a more advanced balance exercise?"

Brawly pulled his surfboard from the sand. "Surfing!"

Shirt still in hands, I suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

* * *

After Brawly had expounded to me, explaining how surfing training worked, I had been forced to overcome my extreme reluctance to enact this training method—it sounded really useful. I did manage to get out of doing while Brawly was there, possibly preserving my identity, by saying we needed dinner and rest first.

Brawly had offered me dinner at his house, which I of _course_ refused—and he of _course_ insisted. I pointed out my soaked state, and he said he had clothes for me, and it was about this time I began to wish Brawly _had_ noticed I was a girl, as he would never had pressed his offer like that on me then.

Unable to refuse without being flatly rude (believe me, I seriously considered doing just that, but when he'd helped me out with his surfing training idea…) I was left to follow him to his house, which was a little distance out of town, on the west side of the island. Brawly opened the door with a, "Yo, man! Back already, I see. Find any?"

Steven, looking freshly showered and reading a book, glanced over at us. The smudge of dirt on his cheek was gone, and his hair fell into his eyes slightly. "No, not today. …Sapph?"

"You know him, too?" grinned Brawly. "He's here with Briney, and with an impressive party of Pokémon. I guess you know Steven? He's staying with me after encountering some…problems at the Pokémon Center." Brawly gave a bark of laughter. "'S nice to have a guest, though, and someone of Steven's caliber is always welcome!"

"Thanks. I just got back, myself, so dinner isn't ready yet." He eyed me. "There's a laundry machine at the Pokémon Center you can use to wash that jacket, if you'd like."

I clutched protectively at the wet, sandy jacket that was currently hiding my female form. "I will. Later. I have to go through all its pockets first, anyway."

Brawly grunted, ruffling his blue hair. "Let me find you a shirt. Not cold, yeh?"

I shook my head. "No sir." I shifted from foot to foot, glancing around the house. It seemed ordinary, with pale blue walls—like Brawly's hair, I thought dryly—and surfboards stacked against a wall. There was a rug covering the wooden floor in front of the couch Steven sat on, and there was a coffee table there. Magazines were strewn in messy piles across it, most of them seeming to be Pokémon battling and surfing oriented. There was another table, this one beneath a window, and there were various paraphernalia there. I could see shells, sea urchins, sea glass, and other things you might find and take away from a beach. There was a necklace hanging with teeth, and they were sharp and large enough I thought they might come from carvanha. In the middle of the necklace was maybe the biggest, most deadly fang I'd ever seen.

"What's that from?" I asked, pointing at it.

Steven glanced up from his reading. "That must be a sharpedo fang." And then he looked down.

Slightly off-put by his behavior, I pulled out my PokéDex, looking up Sharpedo. I found out it was the evolved form of Carvanha. It looked very tough and I was glad Shelly had had its pre-evolved form instead of the real deal.

Still standing by the table of knickknacks, I watched Steven from the corner of my eye. He read as if I weren't in the room, and I inwardly groaned at his bewildering mind. When we first met, he was kind and helpful. The second time we met, he showed concern when I was injured, stays with me while I'm cared for, and then very solemnly thanked me, and questioned me about the Devon incident. Then we teased each other, and parted on a good note. Now he was ignoring me.

_I am just a beginning trainer,_ I rationalized, and then: …_Actually, he might not even be ignoring me on purpose. Maybe he called his father, and they had a talk? And he's preoccupied with that?_

"None of my clothes looked like they'd fit, so I brought some of Steven's," announced Brawly, entering the room. "It's strange, I could've sworn I had an old pair from when I was younger…but no matter. Right, Steven?"

Steven was frowning, but shrugged. "As long as you return them."

Brawly tossed a bundle of cloth towards me but they fell short. I bent down to pick them up. There was a white collared shirt and simple gray shorts. For a moment, I felt panicked. What if they expected me to change in front of them? Brawly gestured from where he'd come from. "There's a bathroom down there you can use to clean up. If you take a while, dinner might be ready by the time you're done."

"Thanks," I said, hurrying away. The bathroom was spartan, but had all the necessities. I washed crusted sand from my face and arms and pulled on the shirt and shorts, hooking my belt through the loops to hold the latter up. I glanced at my reflection, and froze. The shirt's collar was gaping, revealing the thin straps over my shoulders.

Relieved I had caught the error, I quickly removed my bra, stuffing it into a pocket of my jacket and zipping the pocket. There, wrong people shouldn't find it now. I adjusted the collar of Steven's shirt, retied my bandanna, which had become loose during the day, and made sure it covered as much as my hair as possible. Jacket, shirt, and pants balled in hand, I left the bathroom.

_I'll have to be careful of that mistake in the future,_ I reflected. _Some of my shirts might show the straps, too, and that'd be difficult to explain away. Fortunately, I usually wear my jacket, which covers everything…_

Dinner wasn't ready yet, and so Brawly and I sat on the floor, Brawly introducing me to each of his Pokémon: Makuhita, of course; a slim, frail-looking white and blue Pokémon that liked to sit with his heels pressed together, called a meditite; and what I recognized as a machop.

"So, what do yeh say?" he asked me abruptly. "Since you're here for a while while Briney fixes the motor, want to have a battle?" He grinned toothily at me. "I am a gym leader, after all, so if you beat me you'll get a badge!"

"I was intending to," I told him matter-of-factly. "It'll be my second badge."

"Now, don't get ahead of yourself here," objected Brawly, blue brows rising. "You might not win, after all. And your _second?_ Have you beat a Hoenn gym leader already? You're coming from Rustboro, so, Roxanne?"

I nodded, gaze flicking over to Steven's form, silent on the couch except for the intermittent crinkle as he turned the pages. He didn't seem to be listening, or even aware, of our presences, and had nothing to say on the subject of me winning that battle, despite the indirect role he'd had in that.

Brawly caught my look. "Don't mind Steven; he tunes everyone out when he wants to. He can't even hear us. Watch." He cleared his throat. "Steven Stone is a nerdy rock-obsessed girly-guy whose favorite color is purple, and who hates steel-type Pokémon and does the hula every other night and is deathly allergic to people when the mood strikes him."

Holding our breath, we stared intently at Steven. There was a lock of hair hanging in Steven's eyes, which scanned the page of the book he was reading. The page's crackle seemed very loud as Steven turned it, running a finger idly over its edge before letting it fall. His eyes resumed their scanning.

"And his hair is really lame," I added, unable to resist.

A moment passed and a hand slowly rose, brushing away an interfering lock of hair. Steven lifted his eyes, meeting ours directly. We stared at him, frozen and convinced of our impending doom. Steven stared at us stoically. His silver brow creased with faint confusion, and he asked, "What is it?"

I fell back, smushing a palm against my mouth to stifle the giggles I was sure a guy wouldn't give and slumping against the couch, shaking with smothered laughter.

"Nothing!" exclaimed Brawly too quickly. "It's nothing, man. Just chillin' here till dinner's ready. In fact"—a buzzer started to clamor for attention—"I'll just go check on it now!" He ran from the room. Steven watched him go, the nonplussed expression still on his pale face, before he turned his gaze on me, face red and nearly biting my hand. Out of Steven's view, Brawly clapped a hand to his heart and mimed an exaggerated sigh of relief. My laughter bubbled again, making Steven raise an eyebrow and turn to look at the now-empty doorway.

"I'm n-not cr-crazy," I wheezed reassuringly at him.

"Right," Steven answered, sounding vaguely unconvinced. He carefully bookmarked the page he was at, and stood. He said to me, Meditite (who was doing a handstand with his heels together, the tip of his headgear touching the ground), Makuhita, and Machop (who were talking in low voices), "We'd better go and make sure he doesn't burn dinner beyond edibility."

As it turned out, Brawly had not done so, and while it wasn't much compared to my mom's cooking, it was better than anything I could do. (I'd inherited Norman's culinary skills, or lack thereof.) I let out my Pokémon to join us but Steven did not do the same. Chika and Makuhita hit it right off, continuing from training, but Ralon and Meditite were engaged in a staring contest most of the meal. At first I'd been suspicious—what if Brawly really was hiding something?—but when Ralon concentrated only on Meditite without wavering, I figured it was just a personality clash. I kept an eye on them. It was kinda creepy how neither of them said anything, just stared at each other.

On the other hand, Muu and Machop didn't seem to like or dislike each other, and spent most of dinner refereeing the staring match and chiming in on Chika and Makuhita's conversation.

As for the people side of things… I learned that Brawly was a messy eater. He liked to mush all his food together so that the beans and noodles and broccoli were seamlessly meshed, and then jam big portions into his mouth, and make jokes and talk while chewing. A typical guy.

Steven was the opposite. If he was chewing, he would only talk after he'd swallowed, and even then it was always to answer a direct question. He never had other input into the conversation. He was also a quick eater (not as fast as me, though) but politely stayed and waited for us, folding his napkin into tiny squares until he couldn't anymore. He declined my offer of a second napkin, looking startled and embarrassed.

Brawly was the heart and soul of the conversation, including both of us in the conversation and drawing attention away from Steven's silence. He was funny enough that Ralon would crack up with laughter just as we did, and after the laughter had subsided, Ralon bridled in the face of Meditite's cool, smug exterior. Muu, finished eating and looking for entertainment, saw Ralon's dilemma. Sneaking unstealthily behind Meditite, Muu pounced with a small roar, trying to surprise him. Meditite didn't so much as twitch.

I noticed Steven move slightly from the corner of my eye. Glancing over at him, I saw he was unobtrusively leaning back and down. Brawly, distracted by the unfolding drama as Muu did his best to break the staring contest between Ralon and Meditite, didn't see. Steven suddenly looked up, meeting my eyes, and I hastily looked away. My hand tugged nervously at Steven's too-big shirt, quadruple-checking the topmost buttons.

Machop and Makuhita were watching Muu pester Meditite with amused and ageless looks, as if this was something that had been done many times before. There was something missing, though. I looked around, realizing I couldn't see Chika. Suddenly suspicious, I looked back at Steven. I couldn't see his lap, but the tip of a leaf stuck up over the table. This time Steven didn't notice me and I returned to the Pokémon spectacle below.

Brawly heaved a great sigh as he swallowed his last mouthful of rice. He let the fork fall to his plate with a loud clatter, catching the Pokémon's attention. Even Meditite's gaze switched from Ralon to Brawly. "Alright, that's enough excitement for tonight," he announced. "My Pokémon, we're gonna have our evening workout now. Thanks for having dinner with me'n' Steven, Sapph. I look forward to our battle," Brawly grinned.

I grinned back at him. "Me too, but we need training before we're ready to take on you."

"Don't take too long getting ready," Brawly said, and then he and his Pokémon left out back. I returned Muu and Ralon. Steven had stood up, Chika in his arms. Chika yawned sleepily, leaf twitching, and Steven ran a soothing finger along his spine, quieting him immediately.

Neither of us spoke until Chika was safely nestled in his pokéball. When he was, I shook my head, grinning wryly. "Magic, I say."

Steven smiled slightly, moving to show me to the door. "It's the hair, I tell you."

I grumbled. "They just like old people, that's all."

"Old?" Steven said incredulously, stopping. "Who's old, here? Not me!"

Wishing I had a Pokémon out to help me stage this, I informed the room, "Look at his denial…total delusion. What a sheltered life you've lived, hiding in caves and flower shops and business suits—"

"I believe the 'age' you're sensing is more my infinite wisdom and cool maturity," Steven said, but despite his attempt to keep his voice calm, there was an upward tilt to his lips. My grin widened.

"I think you're forgetting your poise—bearing, I mean, and you're totally overlooking your gray hair. You're all hunchbacked from crawling around in caves. You're also really pale, and you have wrinkles that make you look worried."

Steven blinked, frowning, and reaching up to touch his face as he straightened. A moment later he realized he was already standing straight, and there were no wrinkles on his face; he probably didn't use a mirror much, if he didn't know that. He was pale, though, and his frown did make him look worried. "Ha, ha," he said dryly.

"Gotcha," I said gleefully. "There's also a bit of rice right here." I touched the tip of my nose. "It's really funny, so I didn't tell you first."

"I'm not falling for that," Steven said wisely, opening the door. "You can't fool me twice."

I stepped forward, reaching up to flick his nose with a finger. I showed him the grain of rice—a grain of rice I had found stuck to my (his) shirt, but he didn't know that. Enjoying his flabbergasted expression, I exclaimed, "_Owned_." I snapped my fingers in front of his face, and skipped out the door. "Bye!"

His hand closed around my shoulder, spinning me back. I raised an eyebrow at him. "What, gotta have the last word?"

Cool ocean breeze brushed over us, carrying a salty smell and stirring Steven's ever-mussed hair. In the cloudless night, I could see Steven clearly, and in the starlight, it was impossible to deny his hair was silver. Without saying anything, Steven reached out, fingers skimming lightly over my chin, touching my bottom lip. I stared at him, speechless, and he withdrew, showing me a grain of rice with a small smirk quirking his lips, a glimpse of teeth visible. "You had one, too. Good night."

He shut the door. I'm not sure how long I spent standing outside in front of it, just staring.

The caress of the breeze was like the light, ephemeral touch of his fingers.

* * *

Aha, some May/Steven time. Hope you enjoyed!

About "Chika": I wasn't intending to have her nickname him, but it just started slipping out as I was typing.

November 29, 2010: Thanks to Liz Hollow for catching a stupid mistake =D

November 27, 2011: Some grammar edits

January 30, 2012: Grammar and changing Pokemon to Pokémon, etc

Please, review!

—xxsapphireheartxx


	7. Chapter 7: Facing the Fighters

Heroes of Hoenn

_Red, Gold, and now me—Steven says it's fate. I have to disagree. It's terrible, terrible, good luck. [Based on RSE]_

Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me, nor do its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Facing the Fighters**

* * *

I had known, consciously, the surfing training method could not possibly be as easy and simple as Brawly and Makuhita made it look. But after my _n_th time getting a mouthful sand and finding my Pokémon doing no better, I decided that his meditite must have been using Confusion or Psychic on them to help them keep balance (Brawly had mentioned Meditite was partly psychic-type).

I immediately wanted to smack myself on my head. "Okay, guys," I hacked, the salt water rough on my throat, "back to shore! Time to rethink this!"

This morning, I'd dressed for surfing and snuck out to the southern end of the island to avoid being spotted when soaking and clearly female. It had been a journey rife with difficulty as we fought our way through lethal vegetation and a clan of territorial taillow, and I understood why people stuck to the northern shores. But the southern at least insured our privacy.

I itched at my ankle as I explained my idea to my compatriots. "Alright, here's how it goes. As it is, we don't even have enough time to figure out what we're doing wrong, we go down so fast. So Ralon is going to use Confusion to help you. This'll be a good chance to practice Confusion, as well as figuring out surfing. Since Muu's too big, Ralon will practice with Chika, and since Chika can't swim well"—something we'd found out the very hard way—"Muu will spot for him. I'll be watching to see if I can find ways to improve it. Ready?"

Three cries answered me, and we set about it. It took us nearly an hour to get it to the point that Chika could stay aloft for a minute without interference from Confusion, and after an hour of watching Chika, I was learning to differentiate the stances he used. Watching as Chika's weight shifted, I was starting to understand what Brawly had said about balance. Chika was thrown into the water, and surfaced a moment later with Muu.

Deciding that was good enough for now, I had Ralon try it out. After using Confusion to guide and help Chika, Ralon had a pretty good idea of what to do, though it took a little adjusting. After about half an hour, he could balance for almost two minutes.

Last up came Muu. Ralon's Confusion was too weak to manhandle Muu the same way he'd helped Chika, and it took us an hour and a half to get to the point Muu could balance for a minute. After this had been achieved, I called a much belated lunch break, and we devoured the food I'd packed hungrily in silence, but for munches and sighs.

We spent the rest of the day practicing balance. Studying them, I realized that just because a particular stance worked for the four-legged Chika, it did not mean it would work for two-legged Ralon, and just because a stance worked for Ralon did not mean it would work for the much stockier Muu. Each of my Pokémon would have to come up with an individual style.

We ended our second day with a takeout dinner from the Pokémon Center, which I brought to Mr. Briney and we ate aboard his ship, chatting about insignificant topics, and a bit about when the ship would be fixed.

The third day went much the same as the second, with southern wave-battles for us. Early in the morning, I pulled Muu from the training because he was doing the best, something that surprised me. With how graceful Ralon was, I'd expected him to excel at balance, but his light body was thrown about with relative ease by the merciless waves. With Muu, after we'd gotten past the one-minute marker, everything else seemed to fall into place and Muu was a natural.

We practiced and refined Mud Shot. I wasn't surprised when I saw that after his balance practice, his shots were already stronger and faster than they'd been, but I pushed for him to make them even more powerful and quicker. I told him he was using too much water in his mud—the mud was a light color—and if he could make dark or black mud, that was right.

Of course, I didn't know what I was talking about, but it made sense to my mind and felt right in my gut, so I pursued it. I had him take it by steps. First, figure out how to produce the dark mud. Second, produce great quantities of it. Third, shoot it.

To a degree, it worked. The dark mud was much more intense and forceful, but it was also slightly sluggish. Not dramatically, but not as speedy as a light-colored Mud Shot. I told Muu we'd keep working on it, and as he grew it would become faster and stronger as well. In the meantime, we settled for a satisfying compromise: Muu shot light blue balls at the target, which converted to dark mud as they struck. They were quicker than a constant stream of any color, and stronger than a light-colored stream (though weaker than a dark one).

After that, I had Muu run, dodge, and roll. I had him try using different stances for them as we figured out the quickest, controlled roll to get him on his feet most efficiently. He jumped and learned the best ways to land. On my insistence, he reluctantly learned the best ways to fall. These lessons made him pout at me after every fall, but I refused to be moved—even though the skin below his mouth water a lighter color than above and exaggerated the pout exponentially. Okay, maybe I went a bit easy on him.

After that, I had him swim, exercising, as I offered suggestions to Ralon and Chika. When we staggered back to the Pokémon Center late that evening, we were all pleased with the day's work: Ralon and Chika's balance had improved drastically, and Muu's Mud Shot was much stronger and faster. I fell asleep that night with a smile on my face.

My fourth day on Dewford island dawned cloudy, and before heading to our special training spot, we visited the ship after a hardy breakfast. Mr. Briney was still asleep, however, so I couldn't find out how the repairs were going.

Muu was practicing Mud Shot as I ran Ralon and Chika through their paces balance-wise. They underwent the same movement-testing as I'd done with Muu yesterday, falling, dodging, jumping, and rolling. Ralon did very well on this, inherent grace kicking in on land—though his misgivings on falling were even greater than Muu's.

I added an extra category for Chika: accuracy. Chika managed to strike most targets successfully, but struggled with everything else, incredibly worn from these days of harsh training. He was lower-leveled than Ralon and Muu and I made myself to allow him a break. He flopped out on the sand, and sunbathed with a look of pure bliss on his face.

I was glancing over at him, checking on his condition, when I'd noticed Muu. Instead of the small blue balls, instead of the constant stream, he belched a big ball of mud that flew forward and slammed into a tree trunk with enough power that a coconut fell and conked Muu on the head: an instant KO.

I ran over, Ralon drifting beside me. It took us several minutes to wake up Muu, who demonstrated the crazily powerful blob-of-mud attack style for me. It seemed different than a Mud Shot, and after a consultation with the all-knowing PokéDex, I realized it was a different move, called Mud Bomb. I immediately checked to see if the blue balls Mud Shot was a different move, but it came up as Mud Shot. Oh well.

Mud Bomb was slower than the dark stream of Mud Shot, but in such a contained attack I saw great potential. Taking a break in balance testing, Ralon easily learned to control the Mud Bomb with Confusion.

Confusion made up for Mud Bomb's lack of speed, and also opened a wealth of possibilities regarding accuracy, of splitting it up into multiple balls (what would happen then?), and so many others I sat down and wished I'd been smart enough to bring a pencil and paper to write with. Finally I remembered the PokéNav, and I took it out to type notes.

Lunch, and then training resumed. When four o'clock came along, I called it off, explaining without looking at Chika that everyone needed a break in order to be ready for our gym match against Brawly tomorrow. I also looked up the fighting/psychic Meditite in the PokéDex, seeing as it was the only of Brawly's Pokémon Ralon didn't have the edge over type-wise.

"Meditite, the Meditate Pokémon. It continually meditates for hours every day. As a result of rigorous and dedicated yoga training, it has tempered its spiritual power so much it can fly."

"Whoa," I said. "Fly? _Definitely_ need to watch out for that one." I looked over at Ralon. "Hey, could you fly too, if I made you meditate?"

Ralon gave me a _look_.

"Fiiine…" I sighed, but stored it away for future use. After all, it was _flying_.

* * *

The fifth day was sunny, but not hot. I was wearing my jacket comfortably, and hunched over my PokéDex as we finished an early lunch to prepare for our fight. If Brawly started with Meditite, I was starting with Muu; if Brawly started with Makuhita, I was starting with Ralon; and if Brawly started with Machop, I was starting with Chika.

Out of them, Meditite was the biggest threat, then Makuhita, and then Machop. It was no coincidence that Chika, our weakest link, was facing Machop. Since Ralon had the type advantage over Makuhita, he was taking him, and Muu would face Meditite—even if a Ralon vs Meditite was an intriguing, promising battle.

Thinking of Ralon's Trace, I looked up my opponents' possible abilities. Makuhita could have Guts—which raised attack when afflicted with a status problem—or Thick Fat—which halved the damage taken from fire- or ice-type attacks. Machop could have either Guts or No Guard—an ability that insured that every attack hit (whether it was from Machop or his opponent) no matter what—and Meditite had Pure Power, which doubled his attack stat, period. Ralon didn't know any physical moves, so these abilities were wasted on him. I would have to be careful, especially if I decided to inflict a status condition on them with Chika.

I gave my Pokémon time to digest before pulling Muu out to alter his Mud Shot slightly, making the blue balls smaller and more plentiful so it would be harder for Meditite's Confusion to stop them. I told Muu we'd make them even smaller and numerous when we had time.

Finally, I returned all of my Pokémon and entered the gym alone. The gym had a circular front with a smaller orange circle in it. The door was in the orange circle. Inside, it was pitch-black, and if it weren't for a receptionist-type man at the door, I'd think it was closed. Stepping into the yawning darkness, I called out Muu to make sure I didn't walk into any walls or anything.

The first time a trainer leapt out at me, unleashed her Pokémon for battle, I nearly screamed in surprised fright. After I realized what was happening, we owned her Meditite, our improved Mud Shot working nicely against her Confusion. I felt very smug as I saw that. When we beat her, a light came on.

_So for every trainer I beat, more lights come on?_ I thought.

A few trainers later, and I returned Muu, able to see. I saw a trainer leaning against the wall at a corner, and defeated him with Ralon. I returned Ralon and turned the corner, unsurprised to see Brawly across a battlefield from me, softly illuminated by dim overhead lights. "About time you came, yeh! We've been waiting and waiting, but the wave never crashed!" he called to me.

"Your gym puzzle is…interesting," I told him.

Brawly grinned. "I've been churned in the rough waves of these parts, and I've grown tough in the pitch-black cave! So, are you ready for this?" He didn't wait for my answer, instead pulling out a pokéball with a, "Let me see what you're made of!"

"This will be a three-on-three battle; the challenger is allowed substitutions, and the gym leader is not. Go!" called the referee.

"Machop!"

"Alright, let's go, Chika! On guard!"

Machop was a gray humanoid Pokémon with visible ribs and muscles. His orangey-red eyes looked over Chika, not seeming very impressed, and he cracked his knuckles, tail waving slightly in anticipation. A quick flash of my PokéDex and I found out Machop had Guts, not No Guard. Oh well. Chika's aim had improved enough that it didn't matter, anyway.

"I see that you surfed," said Brawly, and I nodded, realizing he could tell by just the way Chika was standing that we'd done as he'd suggested.

"Start this with Bullet Seed."

"Jump over them and Karate Chop."

Chika shot a multitude of brightly glowing seeds at Machop, who vaulted into the air, hurtling towards Chika with the force of his fall and Karate Chop.

I didn't think any of Chika's attacks were strong enough to halt the incoming blow, so I cried, "Growl!" like I had for Muu a long time ago.

Chika Growled and Karate Chop struck, knocking Chika back as he smashed into the ground.

"Focus Energy," ordered Brawly. Machop closed his eyes, and began to glow. By the time Chika had successfully gotten to his feet, Machop had finished the attack, and while he appeared the same as ever, I knew there was an extra power in him. Crap.

I waited for him to make a move, and a tense moment passed.

"Karate Chop!"

Machop ran at Chika, raising his stiff hands threateningly.

"Bullet Seed his feet! Follow them!"

Chika shot off a round of Bullet Seeds (they were faster than Razor Leaves, which was why I was using them), forcing Machop to dodge to the side to avoid them. Chika kept up the barrage. The sheer number and speed of the scattered seeds meant that Machop couldn't continuously manage to dodge all of them as Chika constantly adjusted his aim to follow Machop's feet. I chose his feet because it would be nice if he'd fall over, but mostly because it would be harder for him to Karate Chop seeds down by his feet than seeds by his head.

Finally, Brawly called, "Back away." Machop went out of Bullet Seed's range, and Chika stopped, breathing heavily.

"Synthesis!" I called, because Machop wasn't close enough to attack before Chika finished the move. He still tried, anyway, but looking as good as new, Chika sent off another round of Bullet Seeds to ward him off.

_I should try to poison him_, I thought, narrowing my eyes. Then this time-consuming game of Bullet Seed's range would be to our advantage. _But in doing so, Guts will be activated…_

"Bulk Up." Machop flexed his arms, outlined in a magenta glow as his attack and defense rose. "Again." Brawly was watching me, waiting for me to make my move.

I grimaced, mind flashing back to the Karate Chop Machop had scored. Why hadn't I thought of using PoisonPowder then?

I waited until Machop was caught in another Bulk Up, before, "Razor Leaf! Run forward!" Razor Leaf had better range than Bullet Seed and managed to hit Machop. It didn't seem to do much because of how much Machop's defense had risen.

"Karate Chop!" Machop ran at Chika, preparing his hands as his eyes hardened.

"Stop!" I shouted at the last moment and Chika came to an abrupt stop, planting in his small feet and nearly falling over. Machop, who had been measuring his attack for the moment he and Chika would meet if Chika were still running, missed by centimeters and stumbled, off-balance from his powerful swing. "PoisonPowder!"

PoisonPowder was actually my back-up plan for Meditite, because Confusion couldn't stop it. Or at least, Ralon's Confusion couldn't. Machop was getting it anyway, though, and coughed as he inhaled the glittering purple dust Chika had released. "Now, Razor Leaf!"

"Finish this! Poison Jab!"

Machop expertly destroyed all the leaves and descended upon Chika, his purple fist slamming into Chika's head with increased power. Chika hit the wall and fainted.

"Chikorita is unable to battle. Machop wins!"

Machop was cringing, looking vaguely ill from PoisonPowder. I considered him. He looked like one good Confusion might knock him out; maybe two… I couldn't let him score a hit. "Ralon, on guard." Ralon emerged with a twirl on one leg, the other bent back to touch the back of his green hair. Or what looked like green hair and felt soft, anyway.

"Machop versus Kirlia. Begin!"

I let the first few seconds of the battle pass, knowing the more time I stalled, the more damage Machop's poisoning would do. Brawly knew as well, and as soon as he saw I wasn't going to attack, he did. "Poison Jab!"

"Confusion," I said flatly, and Ralon's eyes glowed. Machop cried out and tumbled to the ground, outlined in light blue. A moment later, he fainted.

…_That was quick_. Ralon really had improved.

"Machop is unable to battle," yelled the referee. "Kirlia is the winner."

"Return, Machop. Now, Meditite, your turn!"

"Meditite versus Kirlia, begin!"

"Are you going to return him?" called Brawly, a cocky grin on his face as Meditite emerged with a flash of red light, eyes closed and sitting in meditation. A whitish aura surrounded him. I stilled the hand reaching for Ralon's pokéball. My plan explicitly forbade a Meditite/Ralon fight, especially since Makuhita hadn't been knocked out yet. But Ralon spun around, a tense, pleading look in his eyes, and my shoulders slumped as I silently acquiesced.

The white glow around Meditite, as well as his complete concentration, was giving me a bad feeling, so I started this off. "Magical Leaf!"

Ralon twirled, and glowing multi-colored leaves appeared and flew at Meditite with unerring accuracy.

"Light Screen."

They hit a barrier, and many of them disintegrated, though a couple of weakened ones forged through to hit Meditite, who didn't seem to notice them. Light Screen was an attack that mostly thwarted special attacks, which were the only offensive attacks Ralon knew. I really needed to teach him a physical attack, and teach Chika a special one.

The only way for a Light Screen to end was through the move Brick Break, or waiting for it to fade. If I wanted it to fade, I'd have to keep Ralon conscious till it did, which meant…

"Double Team! And again! And again!"

Copies of Ralon surrounded Meditite, infused with enough psychic energy to befuddle the senses of the psychic-type Pokémon. The glow around Meditite was growing stronger, and suddenly seemed to flare. Meditite's black eyes snapped open.

"Hidden Power!"

Spheres of power swirled about Meditite, before flying out to attack the Ralons, one for each copy.

"Teleport!"

One ball never reached its target as Ralon Teleported to Meditite's other side, "Confusion!" Ralon grabbed control of the Hidden Power, turning the white balls a light blue and hurling them back at Meditite.

"Confusion!"

I waited breathlessly for the Confusion vs Confusion, but instead of slamming his power against Ralon's, Meditite used Confusion to merely deflect the Hidden Power, which cracked the wall behind him. That was interesting…there was something markedly surf-ish about it.

_Light Screen prevents a pure Confusion against him, I think. It also means Magical Leaf doesn't hit strongly. So I need for him to attack, and turn his attacks against, or find a way to power up my moves._ Still, Meditite's Pure Power seemed to indicate that physical moves would be more advantageous for him to use.

"Flash," called Brawly, and before I could do so much as blink, an intolerable white light burned into my eyes, making me and Ralon cry out. I threw up a tardy arm in front of my eyes. "Drain Punch!"

I couldn't see a thing. "Uh—Double Team! Can you see anything, Ralon?"

"Kirlia, kir," Ralon disagreed. _It's a good thing we had had that one practice in Granite Cave,_ I thought dryly. More for me than for Ralon, though, since he had his inhuman senses.

"Mind Reader, and then Drain Punch once more," I heard Brawly order.

"Teleport." There was the prickle of a successful Teleport, but an instant later, "_Lia_!" as Drain Punch hit. "Ralon!" Mind Reader ensured the next hit's accuracy by reading the opponent's mind—as stated by its name. Well, crap. "Magical Leaf!" I yelled, for lack of anything else to do.

"Detect." Detect was like Protect, probably created a shield of some sort around Meditite. _As if he needs it, with Light Screen there_. I squinted helplessly.

"You can tell where Meditite is, right, Ralon?"

"Kirlia!" Ralon had a sort of '_obviously_' tone to his voice, and a '_stupid question_' undertone. Since Meditite's power was so focused, I guess it must be pretty simple to locate him.

"Meditite, use Bulk Up. Then tighten your focus!"

I frowned. Tighten your focus…? Why did that sound so familiar? I wished I could see what Meditite was doing! _Wait… Focus Punch! Oh, crap!_ Focus Punch was a really powerful fighting-type move, and a favorite of Norman's. Focus Punch was such a strong move because the user condensed an incredible amount of energy into their fist.

My two vague strategy ideas had been to use Brawly's attacks against himself, or to power up mine to punch through that Light Screen. Could Confusion affect sheer energy? Was Confusion itself pure energy? Well, behind that Light Screen, neither would do any good. Which left power up my attacks; how? Gathering our own focus to boost our attacks? Using many attacks? No…combining attacks? A Confusion-controlled Magical Leaf? Since Carvanha, we'd never tried that, simply because Magical Leaf _always_ hit its target…

"Use Magical Leaf! And then Confusion on the leaves!" I shouted. "Guide them towards Meditite!"

"Learn your own moves," I heard Brawly yell, "Magical Leaf is a self-guided attack! It doesn't need to be aimed, its accuracy is flawless."

"Medi!" I heard Meditite yelp, and grinned.

_On its own, Light Screen diminishes Magical Leaf enough to be negligent, not enough to knock Meditite from his concentration. Teamed with Confusion, though…Light Screen burns away the layer of power Confusion forms but lets the leaves themselves pass through, since Light Screen can't completely stop strong special attacks._

"Smart," Brawly said. "Mind Reader and then Drain Punch!" Because Drain Punch restored HP by absorbing energy, I figured that a direct Magical Leaf/Confusion combo to get through Light Screen would fail, and in fact fuel Meditite. Hm…could I get Drain Punch to absorb the Light Screen around him? No, he couldn't strike it…right?

So, deter him with something else… I wracked my brain for a memory of the field. Completely flat and smooth. So where else— "Ralon, Confusion the ceiling!" I called, hoping I was remembering right and there were lights. There was a sharp crack, and Meditite yelled as he unleashed his attack. Ralon didn't scream, so I assumed Meditite defended himself from the falling object using Drain Punch. "Follow up with Magical Leaf and Confusion, quick!"

"Slow them with Confusion, and move!"

What? Brawly had been the one to point out destroying Magical Leaf was the only way to stop it…what was he playing at?

"Kir," said Ralon, sounding alarmed.

"Let go of them!"

"RRRR!"

"Ralon?" I asked, heart speeding up. What was going on?

"I just had my Meditite slow Magical Leaf slightly to give it time to jump over behind…Ralon, is it? Then he let go of Magical Leaf, and it hit Ralon while trying to get to him," explained Brawly. I didn't really understand, but didn't press the point. "Now, Drain Punch!"

"Magical Leaf and Confusion, guide behind him!" I yelled, not knowing if it was possible—how close were Ralon and Meditite—could Ralon do it like he did against Carvanha?

"Medi—tite?"

"KIRLIA!"

—and then sound of a body skidding across the ground. "Ralon?" I demanded, frightened. "Are you okay?"

"Lia, kirlia!"

"Meditite is unable to battle," announced the referee, "the winner is Kirlia."

"Well, that certainly wasn't a normal Confusion and Magical Leaf," I heard Brawly remark. "I believe Ralon just learned Calm Mind to boost it." Talk about good fortune. We seemed to be in the habit of learning new moves against important opponents, didn't we? Mud Shot against Roxanne, Magical Leaf against Shelly, and now Calm Mind against Brawly. Hm. Maybe it had something to do with the pressure…?

"Makuhita, you're on!"

My vision was returning. I could see vague shapes, including the outline of Makuhita's bulky stature.

"Makuhita versus Kirlia. Begin!"

"Makuhita, Fake Out!"

"Tele—" Ralon cried out as Fake Out hit. "Alright then, Confusion!" There was no prickle that announced Confusion, and his blurry shape stayed where it was. "Ralon?"

"SmellingSalt!"

There was a "Makuhita!" and the sound of an impact, and "_Kir_lia…!"

"Teleport!" I yelled, and finally I felt the whisper-feel of a Teleport. "Confusion, now!"

"Surf."

There was an ominous rumble, and then roar, and I recognized it as a wave—as a great crash of water and power that swallowed even Ralon's shout. When it subsided, I vaguely saw Ralon struggling to his feet, limbs shaking.

"Finish this with Arm Thrust."

"Teleport," I called, and Ralon barely avoided Makuhita's fists, appearing behind him. "Confusion." Blue light shone around Makuhita, who grimaced.

"Vital Throw!" Makuhita grabbed Ralon and threw him into the ground like a doll. Ralon forced himself to his feet. "We're almost done here, Makuhita. Finish with SmellingSalt."

"Confusion," I called again, but Makuhita plowed on as he glowed blue, and caught Ralon in his hands. "Teleport!" A moment later, Ralon slipped from Makuhita's grip, hitting the ground with a soft thud.

"Kirlia is unable to battle. Makuhita wins!"

I returned Ralon, mouth thinning, as I forced my mind past the two cold pokéballs in my pockets. If I were held at gunpoint and told to choose which of my Pokémon to depend on in a dire situation, I would always choose Muu. He was my special starter (even if I had been such a brat about it) and my faith in him was absolute. It was in myself that the battle flaws lay.

_A party of Pokémon is only as good as the trainer leading them_. A novice with a level 50 could still lose to an expert with a level 5—though it was unlikely… Ironically, my parents had used that exact sentiment as one of their reasons of holding me back. Even if it had been infuriating as heck—and still was—that didn't change the inherent truth to it.

"Muu, on guard." Muu came onto the battlefield ready; I could see his skin was moist with anticipation of the challenging battle ahead.

"Makuhita versus Marshtomp. Begin!"

"Let's cut right to the chase, yeh?" called Brawly. "Now, Makuhita! Unleash your energy!"

Muu and I tensed, readying for a Bide-like attack, and Makuhita lit with white light. From within the light I saw him morphing, growing taller, wider, and stronger. I pulled out my PokéDex, wondering blankly how Makuhita could've evolved right on command like that.

"Hariyama, the Arm Thrust Pokémon. It has the habit of challenging others without hesitation to tests of strength. It's been known to stand on train tracks and stop trains using forearm thrusts." Not useful on how Makuhita evolved…

"Makuhita spends its life storing energy," explained Brawly helpfully. "It uses that energy to evolve, usually around level 24. The more energy makuhita store, they more powerful a hariyama they become. Now, Arm Thrust!"

With surprising speed, Hariyama ran at Muu. We knew better than to think even Mud Shot could stop its charge. "Dodge!" Muu lunged to the side, but an Arm Thrust caught him, I cursed that move's flexibility, and the single thrust was followed by a volley of others. Muu staggered back. Brawly's annoying grin couldn't've been wider.

This changed things. One of the most irritating things was that Makuhita _could've_ evolved against Ralon, but Brawly (correctly) judged him not enough of a threat to. There was something in that which rubbed me the wrong way.

"Alright, Muu?" He nodded. "Mud Bomb." Let's see how Brawly dealt with that.

"Whirlwind," called Brawly, and a strong gust of wind caught Mud Bomb, making its tornado-like structure visible. I frowned. That was…troublesome. "Charge Marshtomp."

Hariyama ran at Marshtomp. Muu had already discovered he couldn't dodge an Arm Thrust and his attacks weren't powerful enough to deter Hariyama. We'd have to use a combination of the two… "Mud-Slap!" I yelled, wondering when had been the last time I'd used Mud-Slap. "Into his eyes and dodge!"

"Turn," commanded Brawly, and with surprising grace, Hariyama whirled, the mud sailing by him, and one of his large hands grabbed Muu as Muu tried to duck away, "Vital Throw!" and threw him into the tornado of Mud Bomb. Muu suffered its wrath, and came out covered in mud, and the wind died down, spent.

It was possibly the most abstract, interesting use of a move I'd ever seen. Whirlwind was normally a move to force someone to switch Pokémon. Instead, Brawly had used it to stop and preserve my attack and then use it against Muu. "Water Gun."

Muu shot water at Hariyama, who easily turned, dodging it. He liked to go with the flow, but—remembering the earlier fights—that only worked when I attacked him. If I didn't attack, there was no flow for him to go with. But I'd never been a patient person, and I was sure there was a more reliable strategy than that. I just needed to find it.

Hariyama knew balance very well via the surf method, so he probably had Muu beat in that category. The two were about the same speed. Hariyama's attack was higher. Muu knew ranged moves. Hariyama knew Surf, so even if I tried to cover the field with mud to give Muu the edge in speed and balance, he could wash it all away. He could use Whirlwind to halt and keep one of my attacks to later throw me into. The strength of my attack determined the strength of the Whirlwind method. Huh…

Two paths to take with that. Make the Whirlwind incredibly weak and pop out unexpectedly. The other was to make the Whirlwind very strong and somehow get Hariyama into it. In fact…a Whirlwind was really spinny, right? Could it make you dizzy? Hm…there was also the Bide method, where I'd super-power the Whirlwind and use Bide to store energy while within.

What other advantages or plans did I have? If I used a range attack, he'd dodge it, or capture it in Whirlwind. What if I could make the Whirlwind bigger? Big enough to encompass the whole room? What was a room-filling attack? Besides Bide…

I recalled Ralon, sopping wet, struggling to rise after a devastating Surf. I needed him to use Whirlwind, and then Surf—unless Surf would be too powerful for the Whirlwind… Well, in that case, there was no way to know till I tried. Now, how would I manipulate him into using Surf?

When he'd used it against Ralon, it had been to counter an intangible, sort of impossible to dodge move; to utterly overwhelm.

…Wait. Earlier, in this very battle, hadn't I realized if I muddied the room, he'd use Surf to clean it up? Stupid! _That should have occurred to you immediately, dummy! You have to remember these things!_

But first came the Whirlwind.

"Wuh-oh, looks like he has a plan," laughed Brawly, jolting me away from my scheming. I noticed that my frown had eased, but my mouth had tightened in determination. I relaxed my face into an inscrutable poker face.

"Mud Bomb."

"Whirlwind. Is that all you've got, after the time I gave you to think?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

"Mud Bomb, near the Whirlwind."

"Whirlwind them."

"Now, Mud Shot the ground," I called, watching curiously as the Whirlwinds sucked in each other (which was a strangely fascinating sight), "constant stream." Muu let out a torrent of mud, covering the ground nearby with a layer of mud. "Get closer to Hariyama, and continue."

Brawly shook his head. "I know what you're up to; I've faced a fancy marshtomp or two in my time. They all resort to trying to gain the speed advantage at some point, and I've already devised the strategy to counter that…Surf!"

I couldn't contain my wide grin and I saw him frown in consternation before a great rush of water obscured him.

As I'd hoped, the Surf was greedily grabbed by the mega Whirlwind before it could reach Muu, twisting it into an enormous whirlpool that Hariyama dragged to the core of, dirty tides ripping viciously at him. I saw bubbles of air escaping from his mouth, but were immediately destroyed by the currents. The only sound was that of the roaring water as Surf and Mud Bomb pounded into Hariyama, and when it finally faded, Muu and I were ready with a "MUD SHOT!" which slammed into Hariyama. With a ponderous, satisfying thud, he fell to the ground, unconscious from his own might and Muu's final blow.

"H-Hariyama is unable to battle. The victor is Marshtomp! The challenger wins the battle!"

Brawly returned his Pokémon, shaking his head incredulously. He walked over to me, a circular blue badge with a smaller orange circle along the rim of one side in hand. It reminded me a bit of a boxer's glove and it was the symbol on the front of the gym. "The Knuckle Badge is yours; you earned it." He pressed the badge into my palm, blue eyes on mine. His eyes were lighter and less green than Steven's. "You have a big wave, but it's not the wave to watch for, but the undertow. Yeh?"

I thought back to training and the one time Chika had gotten caught in said undertow. "Yeah. Though one could argue the wave leads to the undertow."

"Covers it," agreed Brawly, releasing my hands with a broad grin. "I have no doubt one day you'll unleash a storm upon Hoenn, the likes of which that will never be forgotten."

I flushed. "Thanks."

"Also, take this. Bulk Up—an extra reward for beating me. Ship, I owe Steven," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "We made a bet, see."

I blinked. "A bet…? Like, you bet you'd win, and Steven bet I'd win?" Steven had? I clenched the orange disc in my hand, its surface smooth. I hadn't seen Steven since…speaking with him outside of Brawly's door, and I assumed he'd been in Granite Cave doing…whatever it was he did.

Brawly nodded wryly. "Yeah. That guy…he's always had an eye for talent, I guess."

"Oh," I said blankly. "Okay. Er, I'm going to the Pokémon Center…" I stuffed the TM into a convenient pocket, and turned to leave.

"I'm coming too." Brawly led me out of his gym, chattering about surfing and what he called physical and subtle forces, explaining how I could become a master of both, but I wasn't really listening. When we reached the Pokémon Center and I heard Brawly cry in surprise, "Steven! You're not holed up in Granite Cave?" I forcibly dragged my mind to the present.

Steven lowered his PokéNav. He was leaning against the wall of the Pokémon Center, and was wearing the black and purple suit I'd met him in. "No, apparently I'm not," he said. "How did your battle go?"

Brawly groaned. "You were right. He made a bigger splash than I'd expected—you should've seen the battle, his strategy…completely swamped Hariyama and I. Literally, yeh." He leveled an almost proud grin at me. Brawly grinned a lot.

A small smile tugged at the corners of Steven's mouth. "He does seem to take people by surprise. Sapph, your ship is ready to leave, as soon as you're on it. And Brawly, as I seem to have won our wager…"

"Yeah, yeah," Brawly grumbled. "Consider the rocks yours, you nut. I'll get them ready. You can stop by whenever to pick them up and bring them wherever it is you hoard all your stuff."

I raised my eyebrows, unable to restrain my amused smile. _Well, since Steven is the heir to Devon, I guess money hardly concerns him. On the other hand, stones…_

Steven seemed to be in a good mood, accompanying Brawly and me into the Pokémon Center and bantering lightly with Brawly. I mostly listened, watching his lighthearted eyes and slightly slouched back. He seemed like a mild young man, who never grinned, but gave these little smiles that seemed to mean more than Brawly's generous grins. As we waited for our Pokémon, the talk turned to my battle against Brawly. By then, Steven already gathered the general gist of the battle.

"What made you think of the Whirlwind-Surf strategy?" asked Brawly, and I shrugged, wondering how to explain my convoluted battle-thinking mindset to him.

"I was impressed with your use of Whirlwind, and so it was near the front of my mind as I was trying to figure a way to win," I answered vaguely. "It's a technique that can be turned against you. I decided to power it up and trap Hariyama in it. I doubted I'd be able to move Hariyama into it, so I had it suck up Hariyama."

"Very clever, and creative," said Steven, and my mind flashed back to his praise and then cold analysis of my strategy on the bridge.

"But?" I asked him dryly.

"…But Muu could've gotten caught in it as well, and if the Whirlwinds hadn't absorbed each other, Surf may have destroyed it, or the currents produced may not have been strong enough to drag Hariyama's considerable weight. It was a good raw idea, but needed further refining—though I'll admit you hardly had time to refine it. You also failed to take advantage of Muu's advanced senses, or the secondary properties of moves like Mud Shot. If you had worked those factors in your favor…" Steven shrugged lightly.

"Yeah," I sighed, "yeah." I didn't tell him my adrenaline-fogged mind couldn't think like that under pressure, not when the opponent was so strong and merciless and intelligent that victory seemed distant and unreal. My thoughts were often disjointed with non-sequitors working their way in. Then again, some of those non-sequitors were observations that could later win me the battle.

A clear mind in battle was something that would come with more experience and practice, not a second sooner, so I didn't see any point in whining about it to Steven. Steven had an air of comfortable competence so long worn I doubted he remembered a time before it.

Nurse Joy returned with our Pokémon just then, and she seemed determined to linger and talk with us—or, more likely, Steven. I examined her, hoping it was the same nurse who'd bandaged my now-healed ankle—it would be very disappointing to find two such nurses.

Steven was ready to leave though, and Brawly escorted us to Mr. Briney's ship. On a sudden inspiration, I asked Brawly about the other gym leaders.

"There's ol' Wattson in Mauville," he told me. "That'd where I'd head next if I were you. After that, Flannery in Lavaridge, Winona in Fortree, the twins on Mossdeep, and then Sootopolis, whatever's going on there. I don't know much about the new guy, though—Petalburg was going to have a gym leader who moved here from Johto or something. I don't know anything about him, but his name's like—Mornan? Flannery's also a bit of a newbie. You beat them all, yeh?"

"I will," I promised him, and ran aboard. Now there was just a two to three day journey to Slateport with Mr. Briney and Steven Stone. Fun.

Maybe I could get Ralon started on that flying thing…

* * *

Not much Steven in this one, sorry to say. But on the bright side, they're now traveling together, which means more of him in the future! On the gym battle side of things, hopefully it wasn't too confusing. The strategies took a while to work out. Amazingly, the ones I'm having the most trouble with are May's opponents—I guess partially because I don't know their Pokémon as well as May's. Definitely something I need to work on. Man, and I couldn't fit Meditite flying in!

Expect chapter eight to take a while—I'm not happy with the first part of it, so I'll probably rewrite that part completely. At least the chapter will be longer, then, as my rewrites are inevitably longer than the originals.

Note: I have clearly never surfed.

November 29, 2010: Thanks to Liz Hollow for correcting my careless mistake!

November 27, 2011: Grammar edits

August 23, 2012: Added accents in Pokémon, PokéDex, etc

March 31, 2013: Grammar

Please, review!

—xxsapphireheartxx


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